Tsukihime: Mors Ex Machina
by Le loup de Kaiser
Summary: Our world is like a machine, constantly in maintenance by an omnipotent designer. Without this powerful being's care, everything would fall into entropy and eventually, the void. Shiki knew this well. But the world of the shinobi did not.
1. Chapter 1: Foresight

Foreword

I've thought about making this crossover for a very long time. I've always imagined what it would be like for the resident emo…er Grim Reaper to step into the world of Naruto. There's so many ways it can all go wrong but there can be only one true ending.

I don't know how often I'd be able to update it. I'd like to make it weekly, but that's pushing it. Maybe every two weeks? I don't know. But if enough people like it, then I'd update it regularly.

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><p>"Talking"<p>

"**Shouting, Emphasis/Technique"**

'_thinking/telepathic conversation'_

'_**Thinking with emphasis/telepathic conversation'**_

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><p><em>Deus Ex Machina<em>

Refers to the practice in Greek drama of lowering by crane (the _mechane_) an actor playing a god or goddess onto the stage to resolve an insuperable conflict in the plot.

_Mors_

The latin word for death.

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><p><em><strong>TSUKIHIME<strong>_

_**Mors Ex Machina**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1: Foresight<strong>

It was a dark night in the Tohno household.

Everyone but Shiki had fallen asleep in peace, leaving the young man to fall into pieces as he tossed and turned in his bed.

Never had he dreamt so vividly in his entire life. He usually dreamed of his past or the occasional 'What if' with Arcueid, which often were pleasant.

But this time was too nightmarish for words.

While the sweat dripped from his cheeks, he saw himself on the top of the mountain whilst the sun sunk low. Overlooking the vast plains of forest, he saw many dead men and women and white zombie like monsters with a wild grin on their plastered faces.

He looked over the ground from his perch and saw that there were some men and women alive but they were battling the same zombie like monsters. An array of colors could be seen as they used what looked like magic to destroy the monsters.

"This can't be right. These soldiers are fighting a war they can't win." He commented.

But Shiki wasn't dull anymore. He knew that he didn't intentionally say that. _'What the? What am I saying? Of course this is a dream so I have no—'_

But his body moved without hesitation, running down the mountain as he brandished in his right hand, a red handled knife with a white blade.

'_What happened to the Nanaya knife? Did I lose it somewhere?' _He thought, noticing the new weapon.

But his body kept moving till he was in sight of the shoreline where the fighting was thickest. He dove in past the 'soldiers' and started hacking away at the closest white zombie.

It was at this point that Shiki noticed something that should be there. _'I'm not wearing my glasses but I'm not seeing the lines. No dots either.'_

Suddenly he heard a high pitched growl. He turned around, swinging his knife, and slashed open the neck of the zombie like creature as it fell on top of him. Shiki pushed the corpse away and continued cutting down the zombies one by one until he made his way to a pair of 'soldiers' fighting back to back.

"Hinata, your left!" He yelled.

The white eyed girl gracefully spun, evading the right armed thrust of the zombie. She spun till she was facing its back where she thrust a right open palm onto it. The zombie dropped dead instantly.

Suddenly a zombie jumped onto Shiki pinning him to the ground. But before he could use his knife, the zombie thrust its right hand through his chest, ripping his heart out.

The world turned black.

* * *

><p>Shiki woke up in a start and instinctively looked around the room. He saw black lines and a few black dots all over the place in some nearly random pattern.<p>

"Thank God. I finally woke up." He reassured.

He looked at the small counter to his left and saw his glasses next to the lamp. Pulling it over his eyes, the dull headache he felt had left along with the black lines and dots.

He took several deep breaths as he gathered his thoughts together. It was a nightmare too close to home and too real to forget. He needed to calm down.

'_I didn't think it would be that bad. But maybe I should've woken myself up before he yanked away my heart. But who were those people? How did I even know the girl? Too many questions and not enough answers. There has to be a reason for this. There just has to.'_

He calmed himself a little bit more and waited for a few minutes.

When his heartbeat finally softened, he got out of bed and noticed it was 5 am. He knew this because the sky out his window was brightening into that familiar light blue hue.

Shiki walked over to the window and swung it open, allowing the morning breeze to sweep past his skin. He inhaled the fresh air and briefly looked at the sky.

'_It's another beautiful day. I hope my mornings will be better than my nights this time.'_ He thought as he turned around and headed for his dresser.

* * *

><p>Fully dressed in his blue high school uniform, the sixteen year old boy walked down the stairs of the Tohno mansion.<p>

It was quiet and all he heard were the sounds of his own steps.

'_That's odd. Kohaku and Akiha should be up by now.'_ He thought as he saw no sign of them.

Pacing into the living room, he noticed it was empty. He walked into the kitchen…no avail.

"I guess I'm the earliest today." He commented.

Shiki turned around and was headed for the door till it swung open allowing a red-headed girl in a brown kimono to crash into him.

The two backed off and apologized at the same time. It was awkward yet homely.

"I'm really sorry, Shiki-san." Kohaku said as she adjusted the blue ribbon on her head and dusted off her kimono.

"It's alright." Shiki answered with a sheepish grin. "I wasn't looking either."

With her composure restored, the young maid politely bowed before saying, "It's great to see you so early this morning Shiki-san. But why so early?"

Shiki sighed and said, "I couldn't really sleep in anymore. I just woke up today."

Kohaku giggled, her amber eyes glowing with delight. "I hope that you can wake up like that everyday. It'd make Akiha-sama really happy. Me as well."

Shiki smiled once more. He was unable to feel down around her. "I'll try. Yeah…I think I will wake up earlier."

"Ah, have you eaten Shiki-san? What would you like?" Kohaku asked with a polite smile.

Shiki wasn't too sure yet. He just woke up and didn't feel that hungry at the moment. "Well…I'm not really hungry yet. But I guess I'll have some milk and eggs. Is that alright?"

Kohaku replied. "Yes. I'll prepare them right away. Akiha-sama is waiting for you in the living room."

While the young maid took to her task, Shiki decided now would be the best time to visit his younger sister. He walked over to the living room and sat on the couch across the one Akiha was seated.

She sat there, her white headband on the crown of her head holding in place her long flowing, dark brown hair that elegantly draped over her shoulders. She had sharp yet beautiful features. Her every move was filled with grace so much that lifting her teacup from its saucer left little to no wrinkles in her white and blue sailor uniform. Taking a brief sip, she set it back down carefully and gracefully.

"You know Akiha, you can actually wear our school uniform." Shiki said in a playful manner. "It wouldn't be so bad considering you're entering 2nd year of our high school."

"That wouldn't do onii-san." Akiha retorted with mild amusement. "I was given permission to wear my old school uniform while I wait for the new ones to arrive."

The older brother sighed. "At this rate, you'll follow me through college wearing the same outfit…though that wouldn't be too bad."

"And what exactly are you implying, nii-san?" Akiha asked with a cold glare.

Shiki shook his head and said, "Nothing too embarrassing. I just wish you'd wear cuter clothes, that's all."

Akiha was slightly flustered by that comment. "Wha- it wouldn't be proper of the head of the household to be seen in such attire."

"Yeah. I guess not." Shiki replied, a hint of disappointment in his voice. _'I guess I can't expect everything to be back to normal.'_

Despite this, he was more than happy that _that_ was his only crisis as compared to what happened a year ago. _'So much has changed in a year. Ciel-sempai is nowhere to be found. All the stray ghouls are gone. Nrvnqsr and Roa are dead, and Arcueid…Arcueid…'_

"Nii-san…" Akiha muttered with a worried look.

Shiki looked back at Akiha and saw the worried look she was giving him. "I'm alright. I just remembered a few things."

"Oh." Akiha breathed, as she gave him an understanding look. "It's been over a year now since that incident occurred. Were you able to settle it?"

Shiki paused for a moment. But he lifted his head and said, "Yeah. I think I understand why Arcueid could never be with me." A warm yet longing look washed over his face. "Had we stayed together, we'd be killing forever. A never ending cycle till it's only me and her. It was for the best I guess."

Akiha replied, "We all go through difficulties nii-san. But there are no accidents in life. Everything has a place and purpose in its own time. Sometimes it is right to wait, other times it is right to go. But if we do not listen, we will never know."

"If only it were so simple." Shiki stated.

"But life is simple nii-san." Akiha answered. "We simply complicate things."

Shiki chuckled a little. She was right. Completely so. He had complicated his life in so many ways.

Suddenly a worried red-headed girl in french maid clothing entered the room.

Shiki turned to see the girl and said, "Oh. Sorry Hisui, I should've told you I woke up early."

Hisui was still worried. Most especially since she wasn't able to perform her duty. But she accepted his apology and returned his words with a polite bow. "Shiki-sama. Please inform me if you need anything else."

Shiki nodded as Hisui walked to the side and stood in polite attention, hands resting in front of her.

Akiha simply gazed at the maid until she confirmed that the young girl was no longer uneasy. She returned her gaze to Shiki and asked, "Nii-san, it is rare for you to wake up this early. Why are you up?"

Shiki replied, "I really couldn't sleep past 5."

Akiha's eyebrows rose a little. "I'm grateful for that. Maybe now you'll learn a little bit of discipline. You'll be entering college soon so you must learn to be more responsible."

Shiki rose from his seat and said, "Yeah, I guess so. I'll go and eat breakfast. Thank you for the conversation Akiha."

Akiha replied with a more cheerful tone, "You're always welcome nii-san."

* * *

><p>After a hearty breakfast, Shiki walked out of his house and down the road to his school. He still kept upbeat trying hard not to ruin the day.<p>

'_That's all in the past now. Arcuied will sleep with a pleasant memory. Though… I still miss her.' _He thought.

The young man walked past the busy Japanese intersection and saw the old swing where he spent time with Arcueid. He smiled as he vividly projected the memory on the swings, imagining it like was yesterday.

He remembered standing by the swing's bars while the blonde princess sat in its swing.

'_Yeah. We did a lot of useless things.'_

Gazing at the projection on the swings, He smiled as he remembered placing a hand on the chain as a younger blonde girl in a purple tank top and skirt passed in front of the swings.

'_What the?'_

He returned to reality as he saw the silhouette of a young blue-eyed blonde girl wearing a purple tank top and skirt standing passed the swings, as if looking for something.

'_Is she lost?'_ He thought, thinking he was seeing someone's ghost, looking for its body.

He walked a little closer, wondering what to do as the girl suddenly shrugged her shoulders and said, "Why did it fail? I've done it a hundred times and it never fails like this."

Shiki nodded confirming his suspicions. He tapped her on the shoulder, causing the girl to whirl around in surprise.

"Don't worry. I'm here to help." Shiki reassured her.

The young girl was unsure about this guy. However it was the first time someone in this strange place actually saw and talked to her let alone touch her.

"Are you looking for your body by any chance?" Shiki asked her.

The young girl stood in utter surprise. "Yes. How did you know?"

Shiki replied, "You're wandering around in your soul form. I'm pretty sure you're looking for your body. Do you remember anything before running around as a ghost?"

The young girl saw he meant no harm. She was able to relax more at this point. "I was using my family's secret jutsu and missed hitting the target. So instead of transferring to the dummy, I wound up waking up by an alleyway. It's so strange."

Shiki nodded and said, "I don't know much about magic but from the sound of your explanation, I'm guessing you normally don't wake up anywhere else."

The girl nodded this time. "I'm supposed to be in my body by now. What is this place by the way?"

'_A complete foreigner, huh.' _Shiki concluded. "You're in Japan. It's a country much farther from yours I think."

"Farther than **Hi no Kuni**?" the girl asked. (1)

'_VERY FAR.' _Shiki thought. _'I've never even heard of that place. It sounds like an old Japanese mythological village.'_

He gathered his wits hoping to find a rational explanation. But he was too stumped by the idea that she was a ghost of some mage from a suspiciously Japanese sounding place.

The young man told her, "It must be. I've never heard of **Hi no Kuni**. I doubt anyone here does."

The girl was confused and puzzled. There was no one who has never heard of the land she came from. Even the farthest villages in the snowy north have heard and travelled to her homeland. "So where the heck am I?"

Shiki still had no idea how to deal with this. He was good at killing things, not saving things. But an idea came to mind. "Maybe if we go back to the point of origin, you'll be able to head back into your body."

"Oh, okay." The young girl replied, a little sheepish and embarrassed that she was helpless in this strange place.

* * *

><p>She led him passed the several streets, still in wide-eyed wonder of the many things that looked familiar and the things that looked strange. But when she made the next turn, she pointed ahead and said, "This is the place."<p>

Shiki and the girl walked down the alleyway, passed the few hobos that lay by the side. It was a fairly depressing place filled with papers and cardboard amidst the concrete walls. At the end of the alleyway, they came upon a cracked piece of wall with a single red rose blooming from it.

Shiki raised his hand over the rose. _'Not the rose huh. Though it's faint, this doesn't seem to be the source.'_

He waved his hand over the cracked wall and felt a strange but familiar tingling sensation roll from his fingertips up to his spine.

'_I wonder if he really knows what he's doing.'_ The young girl thought, still skeptical of this strange teen.

"Well, it seems I've found our problem." Shiki answered.

"So what happened?" she asked him.

Shiki turned to face her. "There's a protective barrier that's keeping you here. And from the feel of it, it's been recently crafted. When you did your technique, you somehow ended up going through a portal and exited here. But by chance, some mage found the portal and plugged it just as you exited."

"Huh?" the young girl gasped, barely understanding what he said.

Shiki scratched his head wondering how to shape his theory into simpler terms. "Well, I don't know how else to explain it without more jargons but I think this rose here has something to do with the portal."

He stepped aside allowing the blonde girl to look at the rose. Instantly, she recognized it. "This is my rose. I was holding on to it when I did my jutsu. So I really did go through a portal."

He answered, "I guess that confirms it. I think the portal is still active. If I cut down the barrier, you'll be able to return."

The blonde girl put her hands together and smiled. "Thank you. Thank you so much. I'm sorry for all the trouble."

He shook his head and said, "It's nothing. I'm just glad to help."

He faced the cracked wall and pulled down his glasses. The headache returned but he was able to see the intricate magical seal over the cracked wall. Pulling out his knife, he made one swift stroke on a horizontal black line. The seal broke apart, leaving a gaping inter-dimensional hole. As swiftly as it opened, the blonde girl's soul and her rose were sucked in and the hole collapsed on itself as the cracked wall fell apart.

"Er…I guess I cut it too deep this time." Shiki commented as he put on his glasses once more.

He sighed as he said, "We didn't even know each other's names."

* * *

><p>The road to school had become hardwired in the young man. He could walk there with his eyes closed and still make it in time for first period.<p>

It was a good thing too. As of now, Shiki wondered about things that had happened earlier while he paced to his school.

'_First the nightmare, then the ghost. If a third event occurs, I'm going to find out what's going on.'_

As the school came into view, he felt a familiar presence behind him. He turned and saw his red-headed delinquent of a friend, Arihiko.

"Tohno my man! How's it goin?" the brash guy asked.

Shiki replied, "Actually, I'm a little worried."

"Really Now? On what?" Arihiko asked as he slung his left arm over his neck. "If it's about Satsuki, I can't help you."

Shiki chuckled a little. "No, not that. Have you ever seen a ghost before?"

Arihiko replied, "Like a real one? As in, blood on the walls kind?"

Shiki huffed in discontent. Maybe talking to Arihiko wasn't such a good idea.

"You know, I think I kinda did once." Arihiko added. "I visit my parents' grave now and then but the other day, I think I saw a big-ass frog leap around."

"A frog?" Shiki asked, not sure if he could believe it. "Was there anything unusual about the frog?"

Arihiko replied, "Yeah, it wore a blue vest like the guys in Okinawa. I told my sister about it but she hit me with a bag of ice."

"I guess not everybody is that gullible." Shiki taunted.

But Arihiko rung his arm around Shiki's neck in a vice grip. "HAHA. Very funny. I hope that mouth of yours get's you in trouble one day."

Shiki tapped out allowing Arihiko to drop his arm. "Careful there Arihiko. It might come true and I'd tell everybody it was your idea."

They bantered like this for a few more minutes till they noticed that less students were passing through the gate.

"Yikes. I'm going inside before the gate closes. See you later Tohno!" with that, Arihiko waved goodbye and ran past the closing school gate.

Shiki, on the other hand was too bothered by what Arihiko said. There was something really off about all this but he had no clue what to do about it. "Oh, yeah! I could ask the Burial Agency. Maybe they know what's going on."

* * *

><p>After an hour of running, he arrived at the nearest Catholic Church he saw Ciel enter on occasion. It was a small, stone chapel with a cross standing at the center of the roof.<p>

He pushed passed the double doors and walked down the red carpeted aisle. As he walked closer to the podium, he voiced out, "Hello? I'm a friend of Ciel. I'd like to make a report on suspicious activity."

Not five seconds later, a green eyed nun with scars on her neck walked out of the backdoor and went to meet him.

"How do you do." She began.

The nun then curtsied. "I am Sister Rosanna Yew. I'm the current liaison of the Burial Agency in Japan."

Shiki bowed and replied, "I'm Shiki Tohno. I'm a friend of Ciel-sempai. I've been noticing that paranormal beings are becoming active in broad daylight. A friend of mine saw a ghost of a huge frog yesterday, and today, I met with the ghost of a mage."

"That's quite disturbing. Where is this mage now?" she asked.

"Gone. I found out where she came from and helped her get back. But the strangest part of the incident was that she came from a place called **Hi no Kuni** using a portal." Shiki explained.

"Oh. You must have been the one who cut it down." She replied, taken aback that he was the one who undid her barrier spell. "I don't know about that place though. I've never heard of it. But we did receive a strange table that had **Hi no Kuni** written on a part of it."

He began to see a pattern. "May I see the table?"

She nodded and stepped to the side while casually waving her right hand at the door. It opened allowing the nun and Shiki to enter with ease.

They walked through it and down the steps to the basement door. Upon entering it, Shiki noticed that it was a circular room with rounded dressers and a few chairs set by the walls. In the center of the black and white checkered floor, stood a round table. It was 42 inches in diameter with the chestnut base inscribed with many runes and Celtic words. On top of the table was a topographical map of a strange continent. But upon closer inspection, Shiki noticed that **Hi no Kuni** was written over an area in the center.

"This is it huh?" Shiki said, seeing the map.

"Yes. The church dug it out of Perthshire, Scotland." Sister Rosanna answered. "From the language, most of the inscriptions are in Scottish Gaelic but there are some Old Irish and Old Norse."

Shiki moved a bit closer to the map and felt a powerful spell being invoked by the table. "Five feet away and I can feel its power. Did you activate it?"

She shook her head and said, "It was already like this after we set it down three days ago. We tried analyzing it but our strongest rites and holiest weapons couldn't even scratch the surface."

Shiki nodded in confirmation. _'Understandable. For it to open a portal and send souls across, it has to be powerful. Whoever built this thing knew what they were doing.'_

"Sister Rosanna," Shiki began, "I think this table is responsible for all the paranormal activity this week. If we don't figure a way to stop it, I fear what could happen next week."

"I had the same feeling Tohno-san." The nun agreed. "But how should we do it?"

Shiki replied, "I guess we should start by finding someone who can read the inscriptions. Maybe, someone from the Roman Catholic church of England."

The nun sweatdropped and chuckled uneasily. _'I guess it is true. The Japanese are isolated from the outside world.'_

"I'll try to find _someone_." The nun answered. "In the meantime, I'll put in a word to the Burial Agency and get their help on this matter. Thank you for all the help Tohno-san."

"Not to worry." Shiki replied. He moved over and tapped the area of **Hi no Kuni.** "I'll help out so that _this place_ doesn't send more lost souls out here."

A bluish glow erupted from the table and the map suddenly sprung to life, as if it were a miniature earth. The mountains popped up and the bodies of water flowed so naturally without spilling over the table. In fact, the only way you knew it was still a map was that there were transparent blue lines separating the territories.

"Woah! I didn't mean to activate it." Shiki yelped.

But before he said anymore, he suddenly was warped into the map never to be seen again.

* * *

><p>The world went black as he could feel himself lying on his back.<p>

'_Ah man, did I just teleport into the map?'_ He tried to reason.

He blinked a few times till the colors returned. With his vision fully restored, he sat up and realized he was next to a lake. He looked around and noticed that he was in the middle of a vast forest with tall trees and thick branches.

'_No enemies so far. Man I'm thirsty.'_ Shiki thought before walking to the lake.

But when he got to the lake, he saw his reflection and realized that his glasses were missing.

"Wha- This isn't good." He said in fear. "Wait…no headaches? I don't even see the lines."

Suddenly he started seeing black points and lines all over the lake and surrounding areas.

"Thanks a lot Shiki." He complained. However he didn't have the usual headache that accommodated it. "I see the lines but I don't feel what comes after it. The rules of this place must be slightly different. I should be a heaping pile of pain by now."

He heard rustling noises nearby.

Shiki dove for cover behind a nearby bush where he went prone and shallowed his breathing as a group of 10 bandits carrying swords and clubs walked by the lake.

Slung over one thug's left shoulder was a half naked, brown haired woman, bound, but completely ashamed that she was undressed till her underwear.

"So we gonna sell her or what?" asked one thug with a club.

"Let me go!" yelled the woman as she kicked and struggled to get free.

The thug holding her up spanked her butt and yelled, "Quiet fool!"

"Hey I know, let's take care of _business_ before we sell her." Yelled another thug, twiddling a knife.

Shiki at this point had had enough. He carefully crawled around to the right where the bushes were thickest. He rose to a crouched stance when he was directly behind one thug. He carefully pulled out his knife, and swiftly slashed at the lines of the man's legs.

The thug's legs fell apart into five pieces as he fell to the floor in pain. Before the others realized what happened, Shiki leapt through the bushes and landed on one thug, pinning him to the ground. Shiki cut apart the arms, and deftly rolled to the left as a thug made a vertical swing with his club at where he was.

The armless thug was now unconscious from the blow to the chest. Shiki rose to a battle stance, knife in a reverse grip with his left hand patiently waiting a little behind his armed right.

One thug with a sword ran to him aiming to cut him with a horizontal swipe starting from the thug's right to the left. Shiki stepped into the attack, letting the man's wrists hit his left waist as he grabbed the thug's neck with his left hand. He quickly stepped his left leg behind the man's left leg then made a sweep and pushed the off balanced man down with his left hand. With the thug on the ground, Shiki held up the man's sword arm with his left as he crouched down and stabbed the man left elbow then yanking it forward, causing the line there to be cut. The man's left arm was dismembered into several pieces. The young killer took a swipe on the lines of the legs of the thug, crippling him for good.

Shiki stood up as the thugs realized they were fighting a predator of incredible skill. Some of the thugs were shaking in fear.

The seven thugs quickly ran and surrounded Shiki. But the young killer charged forward catching the thug in front of him by surprise. The thug raised his club up and made a downward swing but Shiki raised his left hand up just in time for the thug's wrists to cushion on his arm. Shiki took advantage and thrust his right hand forward into the man's gut, hitting it with the butt of his knife. The man keeled over allowing Shiki to step to the man's left side and stab the spine in his lower back, paralyzing him for good.

The thug dropped as Shiki yanked out the knife. Another thug with a sword came charging at him from behind. Just as the thug was about to make a wild, downward diagonal slash, Shiki turned and crouched, stabbing his knife into the man's right foot, startling him with the pain. Shiki then rose up and thrust the butt of his knife into the man's throat, stunning him before Shiki made a swipe to both arms then stabbing his left hip. The man's arms were dismembered and he fell to the ground from the immense pain and his weakened left leg. Shiki walked forward to the remaining six thugs, his bloody knife still in a reverse grip.

The remaining six thugs were now even more cautious than ever. One thug, the one with the hostage slung over his left shoulder, thought of a brilliant plan. Sadly, Shiki suddenly burst into action and appeared in front of the thug. The young killer stabbed at the front of his left hip, causing the man to drop the woman. She fell on soft soil as Shiki yanked out his knife and swiped the right wrist of the man before he could swing his club at him. The man's entire arm fell apart as Shiki knee'd him in the groin causing the man to drop to his knees allowing Shiki to make a careful swipe at the man's eyes.

The thug writhed in pain as Shiki faced the remaining five thugs with a predatory gaze from his bright blue eyes.

"What hell is this guy?" shouted out the thug with a knife.

"Naoto was my friend you bastard!" one thug yelled out.

All four thugs rushed at the same time but Shiki leaped over them and landed behind them in a crouch. He dug his left hand in the ground and ripped out some sand and dirt. He hopped forward, evading a blow from a club, then quickly turned to face them and threw sand in their eyes. While they were distracted, he charged forward and sliced apart the legs of one thug, then stabbed the feet of another causing him to collapse beside his crippled companion.

Shiki rose to another battle stance as the other two thugs had finished rubbing the sand from their eyes.

Fear and dread filled their hearts. They could not win this fight. But one thug ran at Shiki, screaming like a berserker, swinging his sword wildly. Shiki evaded the blows till the thug dropped his sword and charged at Shiki hoping to spear him.

But the young killer knew the thug's plan. When the thug was in knife range, Shiki moved forward and grabbed his head in a headlock using his left arm. He then stabbed the man's left armpit. He nearly buckled under the weight of the thug but gained enough control to leap away as the thug with the knife tried to stab him from behind.

"So, you think you're good with a knife." The thug stated. "I gotta hand it to ya. You're pretty damn good. We can leave this all behind you know. Go get a drink a few girls and start over."

"I don't deal with criminals." Shiki replied with a deathly tone. "Stop dicking around if you want to live." He stepped to the left, evading a downward strike from the club wielding thug behind him.

Shiki put up his battle stance once more as the club wielding thug charged to make a horizontal swing to his head. When the thug swung his weapon, Shiki crouched, spin behind the thug's right leg and sliced at the nearly crooked line behind the right knee. The thug dropped on his right side, allowing Shiki to slice the line on the man's left arm. He then stood up and glared at the knife wielding thug.

The thug panicked and looked right and left but no one else could fight let alone stand. He faced Shiki and pulled out a primitive wick bomb. He quickly lighted it and threw it at the young man. "Damn You!"

Shiki simply sliced the bomb in mid-air, causing it to disintegrate into small enough chunks that they could be mistaken for dust.

"Who are you?" the thug yelled as he readied the knife in his right hand.

Shiki replied, "The Merchant of Death. And you'll be buying my product." He shifted the knife into a forward grip and quickly charged forward and grabbed the knife arm by the wrist with his left hand. He pushed it down but the thug tried to free it with his other hand. Shiki intercepted and sliced open the man's left palm, causing the entire arm to be dismembered. Shiki quickly thrust forward and sliced the eyes of the thug before shoving him down to the floor. He mounted the thug, pulled the thug's knife away and swiped at the lines on the thug's legs and remaining arm, causing instant dismemberment of the limbs.

Shiki stood up and breathed a sigh of relief as he cleaned his knife with a napkin and stowed it away before walking to the tied up woman.

He removed her restraints and said, "It's alright now. You're safe."

The woman held herself and sat in awe of this man. He came out of nowhere and rescued her without a second thought.

Shiki took off the blue coat of his uniform and wrapped it around her. "Do you need to be escorted home?"

She shook her head and said, "I'll be fine. My father will come for me."

Shiki was worried about that. There wasn't anyone else around from the looks of it. No signs of roads either leading to villages.

'_If there's a lake here, the village shouldn't be far away.'_ He thought. _'Then again, I'm trusting my preconceived ideas. For all I know, the village could be miles away.'_

He knelt down then picked her up bridal style, much to her embarrassment.

"I'm sorry for this. But I won't take any chances. More bad guys could be around and you'll be in even more danger than today." Shiki explained.

She gasped out, "It's alright. I can walk and I know the way to the village better than you do."

He shook his head and said, "Not a chance in hell. Call me stubborn, but I'm not leaving another girl to die."

He walked forward despite her protests and after a few kilometers, she pleaded with him to let her walk and Shiki yielded.

They walked past the dirt road as the girl asked, "So Shiki-san, what brings you out here in **Hi no Kuni**?"

He replied, "I got lost on the road of life and touched things I never should have so I'm taking a long detour home."

"Hahaha. You sound like Obito—a ninja who always finds an excuse to be late. At least that's how mother describes him." She answered.

"Was your mother a ninja?" Shiki asked, completely intrigued.

The girl sighed. "Yep. She was a medic-nin. She lived through the Great Ninja Wars and still found time to settle down and have kids. Kami bless her soul. Funny thing is, you sound like you've never even heard of ninjas till now. Where are you really from?"

Shiki replied, "Another continent passed the ocean. And after I finish business here, I'm heading to the first boat back home."

"Just like every ronin around here." She answered. "I know it's not my place to poke around but I think the business you're looking for is in Konohagakure. It's just a few miles north from here."

"Really?" Shiki asked.

"Really. There's even a pair of ninjas passing through who're from there. If you don't like fighting too often, you can join them on the way back." She replied, putting hands on her hips as they neared the village.

"That sounds nice Saika-san. So where are they exactly?" Shiki asked as they entered the village entrance.

She smirked and answered, "They're in the middle of the square. One of them is a loud blonde. He's not hard to miss."

Shiki looked at the town square and saw a blonde teen roughly two years younger than him wearing an awful black and orange jumpsuit while gorging down ramen in what looks to be a ramen festival.

A bell chime later, and the nearby announcer yelled, "Aaaand we have a WINNNERRRR!"

"Yeah! I'm totally pumped up!" yelled the blonde boy as he stood up and pumped his fist in the air.

No words or thoughts entered Shiki's mind. There was nothing he could use to describe what he was seeing.

Only these words escaped his lips, "You have got to be kidding me."

* * *

><p><strong>Hi no Kuni<strong> – Land of Fire in literal translation.

_Author's Notes:_ This is pretty much the start. As you can see, the plot has just begun and Shiki has already met a handful of the cast. I plan on making this a 10 to 20 long fic if time permits. Of course, I still need to finish the others first. Anyway, I'm dead tired, so see you soon.


	2. Chapter 2: The Crook

Foreword

In the end, I really wanted to go through with this project. So far, Shiki has been warped into another world where his eyes while special, are not uncommon.

* * *

><p>"Talking"<p>

"**Shouting, Emphasis/Technique"**

'_thinking/telepathic conversation'_

'_**Thinking with emphasis/telepathic conversation'**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>TSUKIHIME<strong>_

_**Mors Ex Machina**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2: The Crook<strong>

"You have got to be kidding me." Shiki uttered seeing the blonde shinobi in the middle of the town square. He put a hand over his face as a wonderful thought came to mind. _'Aw man. This is like Arcuied all over again.'_

"I know how you feel." Saika said in comfort. "But he's your only escort to Konoha so you'll have to bear with it the whole trip. Still thinking about going solo?"

Shiki shook his head. "I'm still new and getting robbed on the way is not my idea of fun."

"Great. Have fun stranger." Saika said as she faced him. "I guess this is goodbye. Thank You, Shiki. I'll never forget this day."

With both hands, he grabbed her right hand in a firm handshake. "Take care of yourself Saika. It was great meeting you. You can have the jacket. Wear it till you can get your clothes back."

He let go and walked off to meet his new companion.

* * *

><p>In the middle of the town square the blonde boy in the black and orange jumpsuit was busy wiping the soup from his face as a pouch of cash and a lifetime discount at Ichiraku Ramen was handed to him.<p>

He gladly accepted it as an old man with long white hair and a headband that had the words 'oil' printed on it, approached him.

The blonde faced the man and said, "Jiraya-sensei! Look! I won! I'm the best right!"

Jiraya huffed, "Naruto, you're gonna work that off on the way back to Konoha."

"EEEH?" Naruto yelped out, as saucers became his eyes. "Mou, you're no fun ero-sennin."

But the older shinobi chuckled as he patted Naruto's shoulders. "Don't worry. It's the end of your training. We'll be heading back to Konoha soon. Just bear with it till then."

Naruto slumped a little. "Fine. I get it."

He knew it was no use arguing. So he pocketed the hard earned pouch and discount card. "Let's go ero-sennin. Back to Konoha."

Jiraya nodded. "Yeah."

"Excuse me!" yelled out Shiki as he approached them.

The curious shinobi turned to look and saw the black haired teen with beautiful blue eyes. He was about average in height, wearing white sneakers, blue pants and a white shirt.

"Excuse me!" Shiki yelled out as he stopped in front of them. "Are you two heading to Konoha? I'm a traveler on my way to visit there but I'm pretty scared of bandits. Could I join you? I'll pay you for your troubles."

Jiraya liked the sound of that. "Hmmm. That sounds good. Yosh. Give me 800,000 ryo and we'll take you there through the shortcut."

"That's highway robbery!" Yelled Naruto.

"Done." Shiki stated.

Naruto waved his arms defensively and persuasively as he said, "Ah, don't listen to him. Ero-sennin just likes to joke a lot. Right ero-sennin?"

Jiraya huffed, "Fine, have it your way. I could've bought more material for my new book."

Shiki sighed in relief. _'Thank Kami that it was just a joke. I don't know how many banks I'd have to rob to get that amount.'_

Naruto gave out his hand and said, "I'm Naruto by the way. What's your name?"

"Shiki. Tohno, Shiki." The black haired teen replied as he shook the blonde's hand.

* * *

><p>They walked on through the roads to Konoha. Normally it's a pretty short distance for a shinobi but since Shiki was with them, Naruto and Jiraya had to walk in pace with him whilst carrying their bags.<p>

"So, Shiki-san, why're you going to Konoha?" Naruto asked.

"I'm just going to visit some people I know." He lied, "What about you Naruto? Why're you going there?"

Naruto smiled and said, "Konoha is my home. I'm going see everyone again after 2 and a half years. I can't wait."

Shiki chuckled at his energy. _'Yep. Another Arcueid. I wonder what secret past this one has?'_ He faced them and asked, "Two and a half years huh… Both of you?"

Jiraya nodded. "I've been training this little runt for nearly three years now. It's about time he graduated."

"I see." The black haired teen muttered. "But why so far from home? Isn't easier to train in Konoha?"

Naruto replied, "It would be easier but ero-sennin wanted to take me far from home so I can concentrate on his training."

"You don't have to lie to me Naruto." Shiki said, surprising the two shinobi. "I don't really know your past, but someone who isolates himself from the world for that long was unable to do something for his loved ones. You needed this strength for a reason I'm sure."

Naruto frowned a little remembering what happened at the Valley of the End. But his spirits lifted up knowing that there was someone who understood him even though it was a complete stranger.

Jiraya on the other hand couldn't believe what he heard. _'This kid's pretty sharp. But how did he know?'_

Naruto's face relaxed from relief. "Arigato, Shiki-san. It's the first time anyone has ever understood me so well. You're pretty smart aren't you?"

Shiki made a weak laugh. "Oh, I wouldn't say smart. I've just been through a lot."

"I see." Naruto quipped. "You know, you remind me a lot of a friend of mine. Dark, brooding, weird, but can say the nicest of things when she wants too."

"I guess I'll take that as a compliment." replied, Shiki.

As they walked on by they came to a much wider dirt road. Right ahead of them were three rogue Iwagakure shinobi sitting by sides.

Naruto and Jiraya's face sharpened into seriousness. Shiki noticed their serious tone and looked ahead. He saw the three shinobi ahead of him and noticed the slice mark on the symbols of their forehead protector. _'Ex-military I presume. They certainly fit the part and have the aura.'_

The three shinobi stood up as Naruto and Co. stopped seven feet away, gauging their strengths.

"Konoha shinobi, on my turf? Maybe there is a God after all. He sent you here so I can send you to hell." Said the tallest one, with a shaved head.

"I'm guessing baldy is the biggest dog on this lot." Shiki said as he pulled out his knife. "Let's hope he just barks and doesn't bite."

Naruto replied, "No this one's different. He's a missing nin. He'll definitely bite back. Stay behind us Shiki."

"Looks like you get to put your training to the test." Said Jiraya.

Suddenly the three missing nins charged forward. The smallest of them threw a shuriken and made several handseals. "**Ninpou, Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!"(1)**

Several hundreds of shuriken suddenly went flying to team Naruto.

The two shinobi evaded the strikes leaving only Shiki to take the incoming blows.

"Shiki, run!" Naruto yelled.

Shiki ran and doved to the side, evading the attack only to find out that there was some sort of targeting circle underneath him.

The average looking missing nin had his hands together in the snake seal. "**Doton, Surudoi Hashira no Jutsu!"(2)**

A stone spike rose from the target and brought Shiki twenty five feet above the ground.

"Shiki!" Naruto yelled. "Kuso(Damn it)!" he faced the nins and put his hands together to form a cross shape seal. "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**"

Several shadow clones charged and attacked the small and average missing nin leaving Jiraya to fight their bald leader.

"Do you know who I am?" Jiraya asked of the leader.

"You supposed to be somebody? You Konoha shinobi all act alike—A bunch of hypocrites." Said the bald leader.

He pulled out his kunai as Shiki watched from above, hanging by his left hand on the stone spike. Had he not instinctually jumped with the spike, he should've been dead.

The young killer gazed on the battle below. _'So this is what a shinobi battle looks like in this world. So much for stealth. In any case, I better end this fight quick.'_

Knife in a reverse grip in his right hand, he leaped off, letting his weight take him to the leader. Just as the leader pulled out his kunai, Shiki landed feet first on the man, letting the man's body and organs cushion his fall.

The missing nin gasped for air but to no avail. His world went dark and he slipped into sleep.

Shiki didn't take any chances and sliced open the man's wrists and elbow joints then cut both femoral arteries on the inner thighs followed by the Achilles tendon on both ankles. The knife nut stood up and saw that Naruto was still battling the average looking nin. He sped away and swerved in between Naruto's crowd of clones. The average looking nin was too preoccupied to notice another blade in the grass. In fact, the original Naruto managed to put his fist in the man's face, causing him to reel back from the blow.

"You little brat!" he yelled as he did some handseals.

Shiki managed to get close enough at this point and leaped like a tiger and knocked the man down on his back. Before the man could finish the last seal, Shiki swiped at the lines of the man's wrist. The man's entire hands fell apart, causing him to panic as the blood flowed.

Naruto was shocked. He didn't notice or feel Shiki until that bold leap he made on the nin.

Shiki stood up and faced the small looking nin and raised his knife in a battle stance. "You're the last one. I hope hell has enough room for you."

The small looking nin backed away a bit. _'It's no good. We totally underestimated them.'_

He turned around just as a Naruto clone came in with a blue sphere of energy emerging from his right hand. The clone shoved it in the chest of the nin and yelled, "**Rasengan!**"

The nin flew past them spiraling as he did. He hit a tree and fell down, never to rise again.

Jiraya huffed out, "These missing nins are pretty stupid. Trying to rob from the great sennin, Jiraya-sama."

Naruto and Shiki went on their way, leaving Jiraya to himself. Of course, the Sannin himself noticed this and ran after them, pissed off that he was being ignored.

* * *

><p>They walked further down the road, catching their breaths as they did. They were close to Konoha now. Just a few more meters and they'd be at the gates.<p>

"You're pretty good Shiki. I never thought you could fight like that." Naruto exclaimed.

Shiki laughed sheepishly. "That's only because you guys could help. Had it been three on one, I'm definitely food for the crows."

"You don't need to be so modest." Jiraya added. "You did so much better than we expected."

Shiki noticed the suspicious tone to Jiraya's voice. At this point, he knew he couldn't be showing off his skills so easily. _'I can't afford to let them know about my eyes. It'd put me at great risk in the future.'_

"So how far till we reach Konoha?" he asked them.

"A few more meters and we'll be at the gates very soon." Jiraya answered.

* * *

><p>And he was right.<p>

After several more hours of walking, they reached a humongous green gate leading into a city of tall trees, concrete housing, and dirt roads. In the distance, one can see the five faces of distinct people, carved on the face of the mountain.

Shiki marveled at the large city. _'This is Konoha? I guess Fantasy Worlds are vastly different from norm.'_

They walked down the road passed the several travelers and peddlers who formed the lifeblood of the city ahead of them. Shiki couldn't help but notice how most of the people wore Japanese garbs that he'd often see in Kyoto or on farmlands.

'_For something Scottish built, the people sure are incredibly Japanese. This is getting weirder by the minute.'_ He thought. _'I guess magic alters reality? No, that's not right. I'd better investigate thoroughly if I want to find out what this place is and how I can get out of it.'_

They walked through the crowd at the large entrance, passing by a wooden stall used as a checkpoint by two men in what seems to be a uniform. It composed of a green Kevlar-like jacket over a blue long-sleeved shirt with matching trousers and open-toed shoes. But the most peculiar aspect of the outfit was the hitai-ate or forehead protector. Engraved on the front of the strip of metal was the symbol of a leaf with a spiral in its center.

"Man I'm bored." said the one with his brown hair over his right eye whilst his blue bandana cupped the top of his head. He leaned back a bit on his wooden chair.

"Let's take a break." Replied his spiky haired companion with a white bandage taped over the bridge of his nose down passed his cheeks. He scratched his black goatee and yawned.

But then the two of them noticed Naruto, Jiraya and Shiki walk by. They blinked for a moment before realizing who it was.

"Hey is that-" said the spiky haired nin as he stood up.

"Yeah, no doubt about it." Added the brown haired nin.

* * *

><p>The three travelers continued on as a feeling of nostalgia wafted over the two returning shinobi.<p>

"It's been two and a half years now." Said Naruto.

"Yeah it has." Answered Jiraya.

Shiki noticed how happy they've become seeing familiar grounds. He made a small smile as they stopped by a tall telephone post.

Naruto dropped his bags and ran up the telephone pole all the way to the top.

Jiraya chuckled at his student's enthusiasm. "He's having a ball."

Naruto stood on the top of the pole and gazed at the home he dearly missed. He spread his arms out and said, "This takes me back! This village hasn't changed a bit. Everyone! Uzumaki Naruto's back!"

Shiki sweatdropped after hearing that. "He's definitely having a ball." But the black haired teen smiled afterwards. He knew how much Naruto missed his home. _'I remember how things were back home. Akiha was the happiest when I was home. (sigh) I better call home soon.'_

He took out his phone and noticed that the screen was a little cracked.

'_It must have been banged up from all the fighting. Er…it could be also from landing on it when I first got here. Wait…10:00 PM. That's not good. Akiha is going to kill me. But then again, I don't even know how I'm getting out of here.'_

Shiki tucked his phone back in its pocket as he heard footsteps from across the street. He turned to look and noticed a pink haired teen and three children running towards him.

The pink haired girl wore a zipped up red sleeveless vest, pink elbow pads and matching skirt, and black shorts with matching open toed boots. Her most noticeable features were her red hitai-ate that she wore as a head band and her emerald eyes.

The other three kids behind her also stood out. One was a spiky brown haired boy with a blue scarf and matching hitai-ate over his forehead. The other boy wore large round glasses over his face and seems to have a running nose. The last child was a girl with permanent rosy cheeks, a blue hitai-ate over her forehead, and orange hair tied up in two large pig-tails at the ends of the strands. Amazingly, the hair was able to defy gravity and stood at nearly 45 degrees on both locks making her entire head look like a large Y-shape.

As soon as the new faces were close enough to see Naruto, they stopped and the pink haired girl yelled out, "Naruto? Is that you Naruto?"

The young blonde looked down to see his long time friend Sakura with Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon. How he had longed to see them.

"When did you get back Naruto?" Sakura yelled.

"Just Now!" Naruto yelled back before jumping down to meet her. He walked a bit till he was right in front of her. "Long time no see Sakura."

The blonde chuckled making Sakura soften her gaze in understanding. She was just glad he was home.

Her expression changed as she eyed Naruto and noticed he was a few inches taller than her. Leaning forward to make sure, she said, "You've gotten taller than me haven't you?"

Naruto raised his hand up to his head and measured his height. "Hey, you're right."

Sakura returned to her relaxed pose and thought, _'He kind of got a build since I saw him last.'_ She blushed a bit and pointed to her face. "So, do you think I've become a bit womanly?"

Naruto gave her a thumb up and said, "You're fine! You haven't changed a bit."

Sakura turned away and held her arms underneath her chest in contempt as the veins on her forehead throbbed.

Jiraya huffed in disappointment. _'You just don't understand the heart of a woman.'_

Shiki decided now was the best time to step in. He went over to Naruto and put an arm around his neck. "Please forgive this guy. He's been away for so long that he's forgotten his manners." But then he casually whispered to Naruto, "Naruto, you just ruined her perception of you."

Sakura looked at Shiki with intrigue. She wondered who this person was and how did he know Naruto. "Yeah, I guess." She faced Naruto and said, "I guess it has been a long time. Sorry Naruto."

"Y=yeah. Me too." Naruto replied. "I think you're great the way you are Sakura, really. It's nice to see you again."

Shiki let go of Naruto and brought out his hand in front of Sakura. "I almost forgot. My name is Shiki Tohno. I'm a friend of Naruto."

Sakura shook his hand. "Nice to meet you Shiki. I'm Sakura Haruno, also a friend of Naruto."

Jiraya looked on with interest. _'In contrast, he's polite and perceptive. He could be a ladies' man if he actually tried.'_

"Naruto-nii-chan!" Konohamaru yelled out, getting the blonde's attention.

The genin suddenly transformed into a beautiful woman in a lewd pose with clouds from the transformation posing as convenient censors for woman's privates.

"**Sexy no Jutsu!**" Konohamaru said in a semi-lustful tone.

Jiraya was the first to gape as he made a monkey-like expression with steam puffing out of his nose.

Sakura gaped in shock whilst Shiki sweatdropped and thought, _'Man that's crazy.'_

Konohamaru transformed back and said, "How about that? Pretty nice waist, hips and bust huh?"

Naruto chuckled at his childishness. "Konohamaru. I'm not a kid anymore. And you too, shouldn't be using a jutsu like that."

Sakura gazed at Naruto. _'That's right. It isn't just your appearance that's matured.'_ Her face brightened a little at this new Naruto. _'I kind of feel a bit lonesome but you've turned out quite admirable, haven't you, Naruto?'_ she blushed a bit feeling her heart suddenly skip a beat. _'Knowing you, I bet you came back having acquired some incredible jutsu.'_

Naruto gave Konohamaru a devilish smile. "That's such a boring jutsu! Check out my freshly developed New Pervy ninjutsu!"

'_Right. Like the new pervy ninjutsu…'_ Sakura thought, not realizing at first what Naruto had said. Suddenly the implications hit her so she struck back, landing a right hook on Naruto's face. "Hey, you idiot!"

The blonde flew a few feet, digging a small groove on the ground as he did.

Whilst the genins hugged Jiraya in fear of the pink devil, Shiki sighed in relief that Naruto didn't get anything worse. _'Thank God it's only a fist Naruto. Thank God it's only a fist.'_

Sakura walked over and pulled out Naruto from the hole he's in and began shaking him furiously. "You haven't changed at all have you, you jerk? After seeing each other for the first time in like two years! You make me do this in barely two minutes! What am I supposed to do with the feelings of admiration I had for you earlier huh?"

Jiraya gazed on with tears about to stream. _'That short temper and incredible strength. She's a second-generation Tsunade.'_

Naruto was helplessly being shaken as he thought, _'Just like I thought. Sakura hasn't changed at all. In fact, I get the feeling she's more vicious than before.'_

* * *

><p>After the brief respite, Naruto and Sakura straightened up as Konohamaru and his friends ran off back to their teacher, Ebisu.<p>

"Thank you for guarding me Naruto. You too Jiraya." Shiki told them.

"No problem Shiki. Hey, drop by some time while you're here. I'll show you all the great places around Konoha." Naruto answered.

"Thanks, I'll hold you to that. It was nice meeting you as well Sakura." The black haired teen answered.

"Yeah. Me too." Sakura replied. _'He's different from Naruto. He's a lot more of a gentleman.'_

Shiki turned around and went on his way.

When he was out of earshot, Sakura turned to Naruto and said, "Now that you're back, let's go over to Tsunade-sama. She'd like to hear your report of your trip."

"Yes. I want to tell granny all about it as well." Naruto answered.

As the three remaining nins walked on, Sakura begun asking Naruto about Shiki.

"Who was he?" Naruto said, rephrasing her question. "He's a guy we met in Nekogawa Village. He didn't have the guts to walk to Konoha alone so he asked us to escort him here."

"I see." Sakura answered. "That was nice of you Naruto. My perception of you has changed a bit."

"Really?" Naruto asked.

"Don't get your hopes up." Sakura answered. "It's still a little."

"Well, you have all the time for that now, Naruto." Jiraya added. As they walked on, Jiraya couldn't help but wonder why Shiki would need an escort in the first place. It was too random to be a coincidence. _'That boy moved as fast as a shinobi despite not using any form of chakra in his movements. His knife skills were flawless as well. Someone like that could easily dispatch shinobi up to chuunin level or just evade them. He doesn't need an escort at all…this doesn't make sense.'_

He sighed and thought, _'Maybe I'm overthinking things again. After this is over, I'm going to cleanse my mind in the bathouse.'_

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Shiki walked around looking for a clothing store. He knew he wasn't getting out of here anytime soon so he needed some personal belongings to survive.<p>

He saw a nearby store with clothes hung on circular racks outside. Inside the store were more clothes and the cashier. He browsed around the store and saw a nice long-sleeved black jacket. He looked over the collar and saw the price tag—1500 Ryo.

"That seems a bit much I think." Shiki muttered. He took the jacket and tried it on. It fit quite well and was comfortable enough. He then felt additional fabric on the back of his shoulders. He reached around and felt that the jacket had a hood as well.

Turning to the cashier, he asked, "So what's this thing made of?"

The cashier looked at the jacket and said, "That one's special. It's made from high quality fibers and spider silk. Completely fireproof and blade proof. Only 2500 Ryo."

'_He's swindling me.' _Shiki thought hearing the increased price. _'Even if I pointed out the price tag, he can make an excuse that they've raised the prices earlier.'_

Shiki put back the jacket on the rack and went on his way. He noticed a nearby blacksmith on the way and decided to drop by.

"Welcome!" the blacksmith said as he finished polishing a hammer. He put down the tool giving Shiki his full attention in the four corner store.

Shiki noticed the racks of weapons and tools on display. He then went to the smith and pulled out his knife. "I was wondering if you could take a look at my knife and tell me its condition." He gave the smith the knife and the man inspected the weapon.

"It's dull and old." The smith replied.

"Can you repair it?" Shiki asked.

"No." the smith replied. "The cracks on the blade run down to the base. If I sharpen it, it might break."

Shiki took back the knife and walked out. As soon as he did, he heard his cellphone ring. He walked to a nearby alleyway and pulled out his cellphone. "Hello?" he answered.

"Shiki? Thank God. I was worried about you." answered, Sister Rosanna. "I've been trying to contact you for the past four hours. What happened?"

Shiki looked to the street and answered. "I've been transported to **Hi no Kuni**. I'm currently in a village called Konohagakure. It's more like a city though. Anyway, can you send me back?"

"I can't Shiki." The nun answered. "I've been barely able to read the inscriptions on the table. But I can keep track of your location. I have the coordinates. It looks like I can zoom in and out. Seems you've lost your jacket."

"Yeah. I gave it to a girl when she lost her clothes to a few bandits." He answered. "Can you send things down here? Like a flashlight or anything at all?"

"Hold on." She replied.

Shiki looked up and waited for a few seconds. Suddenly, a pair of sandy brown gloves fell from the sky and landed behind him.

"Did you directly touch the map when you did that?" Shiki asked on the phone.

"Yes. I can't enter the world myself but other objects can. Also it looks like I can interact with it and affect that world. I accidentally nudged my hand on the ocean area and it created a large tidal wave."

Shiki paled in realization that the nun was a literal god over this world. "Sister Rosanna, don't try anything without thinking. We're all insects compared to you right now."

"I won't Shiki. I understand the consequences." The nun replied.

"In the meantime…" Shiki replied, "My sister Akiha is going to be mad but you have to tell her about this map. I'd rather she knows the truth than worry about it in the dark. I'll text you the number."

"It's alright. I have it." The nun replied. "I'll inform her as soon as I can. Do you need anything else Shiki?"

"Please look for anything you can that can bring me out of here. Let's start with the people who made this world. If we find them, we can access this place more directly and I can leave. I'll also look around my end." Shiki answered.

They ended the call allowing Shiki some time to himself. He gripped the phone tightly knowing that he had to live in a strange new world. He had no money…no house…no food…no clothing…and no one at the moment who could help him.

'_In honesty, I didn't expect to get out easily. Now, I wish I could.'_ He thought as he tucked in his phone.

He turned around and picked up the gloves and wore them. He then walked out of the alley and decided he needed to make some money to start off. He checked the local wanted ads and saw that all the jobs available required experience or some sort of expertise in a particular field.

"You can't be serious." Shiki commented. Then he saw a job opening in construction. _'Now we're getting somewhere.' _ He rushed to the construction site. When he finally got there, it looked like they were building a factory of some kind.

He looked around a bit then found the foreman. Walking up to the man, he said, "I'd like to take the job opening for the construction work."

"Sorry kid. Someone took that job a few hours ago." The foreman replied.

Shiki walked away and sighed. _'This isn't getting me anywhere. At this rate, I'd have to camp out to stay alive.'_

In an unknown world, with little to no understanding of it, it was dangerous to live off the land. And since he had nothing except his knife, phone, wallet and the clothes on his back, he would not survive the harsh environments outside the city. Especially if there were thieves, wild animals and missing nins about. But there was another way…

He frowned knowing he had _that_ option. _'I may not like it, but I have to pickpocket to at least scrap some money. I may even need to do a B&E(3) to really get around.'_

The blue eyed teen walked to the busiest street and sat down on a bench, eyeing the passer bys. He was looking for prey that was slow-witted, had poor reflexes, and most importantly, had what he was looking for.

Just his luck, a group of tourists happen to be passing through. About three of them had fairly good clothing and were in the back of the group.

Shiki stood up and made his move. He walked briskly and walked behind them, quickly snatching the purse of one from the rather large pocket. He then 'accidentally' bumped into the other two and snatched their purses.

He passed through the group and walked off to the side of the road and into another district. There was a woman in a blue dress with a large bag huddled with other women in what looks to be a stand having a sale on fruits.

Some men joined in and Shiki followed the flow. He squeezed into the crowd, positioning himself behind the woman in blue dress. He discreetly pulled out his knife from his pocket and slashed the back of the bag. He quickly reached in with his free hand as the men behind him pushed to get to the front. Shiki held the wallet inside then quickly pulled it out and tucked it in his pocket along with the other purses. He discreetly holstered his knife and walked away into a nearby alley.

He sat down on the floor and opened the three purses and wallet he stole. Inside of them, were several coins that he deduced were the Ryo he needed. He counted them and it added up to 2500 Ryo.

"It's a start. But I need to do more if I want to survive. I'd better rent an apartment." He stated.

* * *

><p>Most of the apartments around had high prices what with being in the richer districts of the city. So he went to the poorer areas and found these set of dilapidated apartments that were an excuse of a house.<p>

"Rent is 1000 Ryo a week." Said the landlady.

"This is the cheapest you've got?" Shiki asked, inwardly cringing at the price.

"Final price. Otherwise, you find a house outside of Konoha or live off the land. The Godaime set a law of removing all bums off the street so kiss being a squatter goodbye." Answered the landlady.

"If that's the case, I'll take it." Shiki replied. He gave her 1000 Ryo and said, "Here's advanced payment for this week."

The landlady gave him an iron key. "Climb the ladders to the top. Your house is near the water tower. It's Room 301."

Shiki went to the iron ladders and climbed it to the first floor. He walked along the makeshift flooring of metal and wood passed the several apartments then rounding the building till he saw another ladder. He climbed it to the second floor and saw a nearby ladder that led to the top. He climbed it and found that he was on the roof. Apparently, he saw the plaque 301 near the top of the ladder making the entire rooftop his house. He was glad that the apartment complex still had a rectangular shape for it gave him a lot of room. But it was not without consequence.

To the west side stood the large water tower with a pipe that ran down the roof to all the other apartments. Beside it was the bathroom that composed of a drum and a hose that led to a small nozzle on the water tower. And a few feet to the right of it was a small hole with a sliding lid with a built in groove for the hand to push or pull. Written on the lid was the word 'toilet'.

To the east on the other hand, was the living room composed of a small, round, wooden table and no chairs. You wouldn't even need the chairs as you must sit on the floor just to rest your arms on the table.

Just a little off center to the north was a rectangular wooden and metal shack. It had no doors, square holes for windows, and an antenna, a small chimney to the right, and roof gutters that led to a small drainage near the side of the roof. Inside the shack was everything you needed. To the left side of the shack was the bedroom that composed of a pillow on top of a pink, human sized carpet with a white sheet as the blanket. Behind that was a set of metal racks that you could use for clothing. It even included plastic hangers. To the left of the bed were more metal racks though smaller and could be used for other items.

To the right of the shack was the kitchen or what's left of it. There were two set of metal racks to the side where one housed the metal cups, utensils and ceramic plates, while the other, housed the pots, pans and cooking utensils. There is a mini-gas stove on the floor though it looks broken leaving the square hole in the ground filled with coal and ash as the means to cook. Above this was a hole in the ceiling that led to the chimney.

Nearer to the center of the shack was a TV by the wall. It still had antennas and in the rack underneath the TV were some detergents and cleaning tools. To the left of the TV was a wooden chest. Inside were some more tools mostly for repairs though.

Shiki looked around and saw that his apartment was a very Spartan place. It was stripped of almost everything, save the bare necessities.

"At least I've got fresh air and a TV." He said. The teen sat on the floor and contemplated his predicament. _'When it comes down to it, I need 10,000 Ryo to survive the month. No, I'm getting ahead of myself. I need to find out what caused the warping and how it can be reversed. All I know so far is that this place is powered by magic. How it's powered, I don't have a clue. Maybe there's a clue in the library. They say myths are born from facts.'_

He stood up and quickly slid down the ladders all the way to the ground. He walked over to the nearest person and asked where the library was. Getting the directions, he ran there.

* * *

><p>Like any library, it was filled with books, organized and categorized for convenience. Shiki browsed through the shelves but found nothing on Scottish mythology. Nothing on Irish and Viking mythos as well.<p>

'_Damn. Nothing at all.' _He thought as he put back a book on the shelf. _'Even the Japanese myth books and children's stories have no info on a table with a map. I guess after how many years, all information on the origins of this world has disappeared. But now, I don't have anything to work with.'_

Shiki then saw a book entitled, _**The World and its History.**_ He pulled it from the shelf and sat down on a nearby table. Opening the book, he saw it contained the history of the world he was in and the many countries and villages. He learned that shinobi have become a mainstream army of many countries because of their flexibility, strength, and the ability to mold and shape chakra—a mixture of physical and spiritual energy.

'_I guess that's how the shinobi create and use the physics defying powers. So far, they're reliant on their hands to do it. As long as I can stop them from forming the incantations, I'll have a fighting chance. But I can't get cocky. Anything can happen in a fight.'_

He turned the page as he noticed a large white bag being placed on top of the table, near his left. He looked and saw that the person who placed it was busy browsing through the books on the shelf. It was a young teenage girl of short stature, with long bluish black hair that draped down a little passed the shoulders. The teen was wearing a purple jacket with a white hood and sleeves. She also wore blue Capris and black opened toed, high heeled sandals.

'_That person…she's supposed to be someone I know but I can't remember who.'_ Shiki thought. _'Anyway, I'd better get back on the grind. Food and rent isn't cheap.'_

Shiki looked around and saw that everyone in the library was preoccupied or wasn't looking at where he was. He took this chance and stood up, casually picking up the white bag that the teenage girl left unattended. He slung it on his left shoulder and said, "Maybe I'll ask Naruto if he's heard of the myth on his travels. He should still be around Konoha." Shiki casually but quickly left with stolen bag in hand.

However the owner of the bag, had heard his words and could not believe her ears. _'Naruto is home? He's really home?'_ She turned around to look at the source of the wonderful news only to see that her bag was missing from the table. _'Where is it?' _she thought. She looked under the table but it wasn't there. She remembered clearly putting the bag on the table.

"Um, excuse me." She timidly asked another man on the same table. "Did you see a white bag on this table?"

The man answered, "Yeah. A guy left with it a few seconds ago. Was it yours?"

The girl's faint purple eyes widened after hearing that. "Where did he go!" she nearly yelled.

"I don't know." The man nervously answered. "He's probably long gone by now."

"No way." She muttered. _'That was the bag Hanabi gave me for my birthday. Who would steal such a thing without any heed for the consequences?'_

* * *

><p>Shiki walked around the streets, bumping into people and snatching their wallets. He dumped each find into the white bag. Occasionally, he'd find someone with a large bag near a stall. He'd quietly and routinely stalk them from behind, then slash the bag and take the wallet and dump it in his bag.<p>

It was a dirty job but in order to stay in Konoha and build enough travel expenses should the need arrive, he had to do it.

'_I guess the last thing I need to do is a B&E. A restaurant earns pretty good money and it's not likely to be guarded either. After that, I'll be set for a while.' _He schemed.

He walked around and noticed a Ramen shop named Ichiraku Ramen. It had round stools for chairs and the kitchen was right in front of you. So was the cashier.

'_It'll do.'_ He thought. But at the moment the shop was still open so he couldn't rob them just yet.

Shiki walked around some more and came upon a barbeque restaurant. At the moment it was closed for the day and a metal curtain covered the door. Shiki read the sign next to the building and saw that it was open for business a few hours ago and will be open again in the next three hours.

'_Alright. Maybe I can slip in and take it.' _He thought.

Shiki looked around for anyone who was watching. There were a few whose field of vision had Shiki in it so the teen had to wait a few minutes. When no one seemed to be looking, he quickly walked into the alleyway and saw the backdoor. He saw the lines on the doorknob and in one motion, pulled out his knife and sliced the lines, causing the doorknob to collapse in six different pieces. He gently pushed the door inward and entered the premises. He marched straight to the cash register and saw the lines on it.

'_No way I'm cutting that thing. I'd destroy it from the way the lines are positioned.'_ He contemplated.

Shiki carried the register and placed it on the floor. He then looked around for something he could use like a crowbar to pry it open. He looked high and low but only found a screw driver. He took it and went back to the register and began taking it apart with the screwdriver till the cashbox opened up. He dumped the contents in his bag and went out via the alleyway and onto the busy street like it was another ordinary day.

"I better head home." Said Shiki. _'I need to hide these quick.'_

As he walked on by he accidentally bumped into a rather large teen. The person had long, spiky brown hair that stopped at the base of his back, a blue hitai-ate over his forehead, a red samurai-like outfit, and red swirls on his cheeks.

"You alright?" said the plump teen.

"Yeah. Sorry about that." Shiki replied. But then he asked, "Uh, buddy…have you seen a blonde guy in an orange jumpsuit around? I met him earlier but I don't know where he went."

"Oh? You know Naruto?" said the plump teen.

"Yeah. That's him." Shiki answered, "Have you seen him?"

"Nope. But you have." Said the plump teen. "So he's really back?"

"Uh huh." Replied Shiki. _'I guess no one else hasn't seen him yet. I'll find him later then.'_

Shiki thanked the plump teen and walked away, leaving the young man to run to his teammates and share the good news.

* * *

><p>Shiki managed to get home and dump his 'savings' into a small chest he found on the way home. He pried it open and placed all 10,830 Ryo into it. Afterwards, he looked underneath his bed and knocked on the floor. He found it was hollow so he carefully pried open a panel of cement and saw that there was just enough space to dump his small chest in. so he placed his chest of coins there and placed the panel back in place and fixed his bed as if nothing ever happened.<p>

"I guess the ramen shop is last on the list. After that I can call it a day." Shiki quipped to himself.

* * *

><p>While Shiki was busy stealing for a living, Naruto, Sakura and Jiraya stood in front of the Godaime Hokage in the Hokage's Office.<p>

"It's been a long time you two." Said the busty blonde Tsunade. She eyed Naruto and said, "I'm sure your training produced good results, right?"

Jiraya suddenly boasted, "Do you think we came back without making progress?"

"It went without a hitch." added, Naruto.

Tsunade liked their enthusiasm. It was the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. "Then show me those results immediately. You will take on a particular man. I didn't send him on any missions for the past several days—"

Suddenly a Konoha shinobi burst through the door, huffing and puffing as he did. He bent over trying to catch his breath before saying, "Excuse me, I have a report to make!"

Tsunade briefly looked at her aide Shizune and the black haired woman walked over to the messenger. "We're in the middle of a meeting so hand the report over to me."

"Actually it's important." The shinobi said as he stood straight. "Just a few hours ago, around 15 citizens had their wallets stolen from their pockets. Another 10 had their bags slashed and their wallets taken. And then two restaurants had been robbed. Both establishments were broken into and the cash register taken apart and sacked of all the money."

"What?" Tsunade gasped out, unable to believe the report. "Do you have any leads?"

The shinobi shook his head. "No one has seen the crook. But we believe it is a local crime ring of at least five to ten men who are responsible."

Tsunade furrowed her brows. She did not like this one bit. _'That's impossible. We rooted out the last crime ring and all associates at the start of the month. No one can form a gang in that short period of time. This is the work of a passing thief who recently entered the village.'_

The Hokage then asked, "What are the names of the restaurants that were hit?"

The messenger replied, "Barby-Q and Ichiraku Ramen Hokage-sama."

Naruto's eyes turned into white saucers of anger. For a moment, anger boiled in him so deep that you would have thought the kyuubi had broken free.

The young blonde held the messenger by the collar, his fangs suddenly growing an inch. **"FIND HIM BEFORE I DO!"**

The messenger felt the deathly tone in Naruto's voice. He whimpered and fell to the floor before backing away while gasping, "Yes!"

The messenger ran out as Tsunade cleared her throat. "Naruto, I know how you feel about this."

"Then let me go and catch this guy! He's gonna pay for what he's done!" Naruto yelled out.

"Naruto, you just came back. Don't overwork yourself." Sakura replied.

"I can't leave this alone Sakura. If those guys couldn't stop the thief then who will?" Naruto answered.

"Naruto," Tsunade began. "Can you do this? Can you catch him without losing your cool?"

"Definitely!" Naruto replied with confidence. "Old Man Teuchi is counting on me. I have to catch the thief."

The Hokage found no hesitation in him. She smiled a little and said, "Okay. Naruto, you and Sakura go find this thief and bring him to justice." She suddenly felt the presence of the person she had in mind to help in this case. "Perfect timing. I'm assigning _you _as team leader."

Kakashi walked into the room from the window, his favorite pornographic novel in hand.

"Ah! Kakashi-sensei." Naruto exclaimed.

"It's been a long time." Kakashi replied.

* * *

><p>Arriving at the scene of the crime, the three shinobi saw what had happened to Ichiraku Ramen. While everything seemed to be okay, the only thing out of place was the dismembered cash register and broken metal curtain that should have seen better days.<p>

Sakura went over to the shop owner near the restaurant and asked him, "Teuchi-san did you see the thief yourself?"

The shop owner replied, "No. Ayame and I were busy scaring the cats away from the new shipment we received this morning."

"Can we take a look at the back?" she asked.

The owner nodded and took them behind shop. It was a four way alleyway with trash cans near the sides. Cats and rats can easily prowl around this area.

"When did you find out that your cash register had been robbed?" Kakashi asked the shopkeeper.

Teuchi replied, "After Ayame went to the store to check our current supplies. She suddenly came back and yelled that we've been robbed. I took a look and saw it in pieces with the metal curtain, chopped up too."

Naruto went back to the front and began asking the people around the area if they saw anyone approach Ichiraku Ramen when they were closed. So far, no one has.

Naruto didn't want to give up though. He wanted to avenge the shopkeeper and find the guy responsible for the crime. He suddenly said, "I'll definitely catch you. You better believe it."

* * *

><p>Shiki was about to sneeze until his sinuses suddenly stopped acting up. But the itching sensation still remained. <em>'Man, it feels like someone wants to put me behind bars. Considering I've robbed more than ten people I'm sure someone is out to get me.'<em>

"Excuse me sir?" said an old man with small circular glasses.

Shiki woke from his stupor and remembered he was inside a bank. To be more precise—the bank manager's office. He was seated in a brown couch across the bankers desk and was about to sign a contract he had made with the manager.

"Oh, sorry about that." Shiki replied. "I'll sign the contracts as promised." He quickly looked at the desk in front of him and wrote his signature on the papers.

The manager stood from his desk carrying two set of certificates and handed it to Shiki while taking the other papers from the desk. "It's a pleasure doing business with you Nanaya-san. Don't forget, the red printed bond is the one with the bank while the black printed one is with the Yamanobe Construction Co. anything else you'd like to discuss?"

Shiki replied, "Could you link all earnings from the investment to my account?"

"Not a problem." The manager said. He went back to his desk and made the appropriate measures. "You'll receive income directly to your account at the end of every week. Drop by every Saturday to check you balance."

Shiki tucked away the bonds into the white bag beside him. He then slung it on his left shoulder and stood up to bid good-bye to the manager.

He left the establishment and decided to take the bag home for good. _'With this, I'll be able to get by. Now I can focus on the main investigation.'_

Shiki was heading home, having fulfilled his quota for the day. While he was no step closer to his goal, he was able to get a sure footing in this new world. He walked through the streets and accidentally tripped on his shoelaces. He got up and saw that his left shoe was untied.

'_Maybe I should get shoes that don't need laces.' _He thought as he tied it up.

Shiki got up and noticed a flower shop up ahead and saw a black haired shinobi with a beard waiting outside the shop. The most striking thing about the man was that not only did he wear the Konoha Jounin outfit but that he had a white sash hanging from his waist. It had the kanji for 'fire' written in bold red over a black circle.

'_He must be double thinking about buying it.' _Shiki thought, as he inspected the man.

Shiki continued his walk forward, passed the man. He smelled smoke coming from the man and realized that the shinobi was a chain smoker. The teen was about to go on ahead but noticed that there were sunflowers on sale. He looked at the flowers and remembered Kohaku, his cheerful maid.

'_She always did smell of sunflowers.' _Shiki thought with nostalgia. _'I bet she's as worried as Akiha. Hisui too. Now I'm even more homesick. I should call home while I still can. Oh yeah…I better ask Sister Rosanna to send over a cellphone charger.'_

But then the older man noticed Shiki's expression and made his move. He walked over to Shiki and said, "_Sunflowers—they're for people who dream of the sun_ is what my student used to say."

Shiki noticed the older man and replied, "Let me guess, you need my help to buy a flower so it doesn't look awkward that a grown man was in a flower shop."

The older man was a little surprised. _'He completely found me out.'_ The man backed off a little and said, "N-no. Why would I do a thing like that?"

Shiki looked at the man's left hand and saw a ring mark on the ring finger. "Well, for starters, you're engaged but the fact you aren't wearing your ring means no one else but you and your fiancée know about it. And if you're here, it must mean that you're planning to give her a present for a date…anniversary…make up gift…congratulations for a healthy baby?"

The older man winced a little at the last one.

"Bingo." Shiki said, managing to narrow down the motive.

The older man's heart froze. His full motive completely exposed. "Who are you?"

Shiki replied, "I'm just a wanderer in a new world."

The older man looked at him with a little skepticism but sighed in relief knowing he wasn't part of the interrogation unit that was working undercover. "For a second there, I thought you were part of Ibiki's unit. You gave me a scare."

'_Ibiki's unit? Is that their Spec Ops or Internal Affairs? Maybe it's like their CIA unit like back home.' _Thought the blue eyed teen.

"It's alright. 'I never met you at this shop.' So don't worry." Shiki answered.

The older shinobi thought for a moment then got the meaning. "Thanks. This really means a lot to me."

The two entered the store and browsed around the shop. The shopkeeper wasn't around at the time so they freely searched for flowers that the older man's fiancée would like.

The older shinobi was looking at a few red and white roses. He wasn't entirely sure what to get but he wanted to give the loveliest flowers to his pregnant wife.

Shiki noticed his choices and said, "hmmm…one means purity and the other true love. Together they mean 'united'."

"Oh? You know Hanakotoba(4)?" the older man asked.

"A little." Shiki answered. "I grew up around a sister and a few friends who know a thing about flowers."

Shiki noticed a box filled with small, five petal flowers. He knelt down to see them up close and said, "The **Forget-Me-Not**…they also mean true love. If you pair them up with lavenders, it will mean Faithful True Love."

"That sounds good." The older man replied. "She'll be happier knowing that."

Shiki answered, "She thinks you're cheating on her?"

The older man scratched his head and said, "Yeah. Most of my missions lately are undercover night raids. I don't get time to go back and see her again."

Shiki chuckled nervously. "I've been there buddy. I know the feeling."

"Well, the important thing is to be honest with your partner. If there's no trust, there's no love." The older man replied as he pulled together some Forget-me-nots and lavenders together in a small bouquet.

Shiki stood up as a blonde girl in a high ponytail entered the store. "Ah, Asuma-sensei. Buying flowers for Kurenai-sensei?"

The older man turned and said, "Ah…Yeah."

Shiki recognized that voice and was worried to turn around. _'Aw crap. I forgot she's from Konoha! So much for anonymity.'_

Ino walked over to the counter, completely passing by Shiki, and routinely typed on the register. "That will be 200 Ryo sensei."

Asuma placed the flowers on the counter along with the bill.

This was his chance to escape. Shiki carefully walked around the racks and boxes of flowers, making sure Ino didn't see his face.

'_Wait. Why am I hiding? That girl would understand my predicament the best. Oh, right. Asuma wants anonymity as well. At least hide for now.' _Shiki stopped by a set of camellias and pretended to be looking at them.

Asuma took his flowers and rushed out of the shop, still a little flustered that his student knew his well kept secret.

Ino was about to pull up a magazine to read but noticed the black haired teen in the shop. "Is there something she'd like?"

"Ah, nothing particular." Shiki said in reflex.

'_That voice sounds familiar.'_ Ino thought. But because the teen's hands were covered in brown gloves, she couldn't tell who he was. Voice alone wasn't enough. She needed to get a good look at his face to really recognize him.

'_I really hope she doesn't freak out…Er, of course she will. It's a role reversal.' _Shiki rationalized.

But he knew that she was the only one who could help him through so he had to take a chance. He turned around and faced her. But it seems she got bored and was hiding her face behind a magazine entitled _Jump_.(5)

Shiki pulled out a red rose and placed it on the counter. "So what happened to your rose?"

Ino put down the magazine to see the person only to completely drop it when she saw that it was Shiki. "Y-You? What are you doing here?"

Shiki smiled and said, "I guess our roles are reversed huh?"

* * *

><p>Back in the basement of the church…<p>

Sister Rosanna watched the events with interest. "He seems to know her."

But she wasn't the only one there. Akiha in particular was _very_ interested with these events. "IS HE NOW?"

"Shiki-san is such a playboy." Kohaku replied, a hint of happiness hiding the pinch of jealousy in her words.

Akiha slammed her hand on the table. "If this is the emergency you called me for then contact me earlier! Nii-san doesn't know his limits until you whip it into him."

Sister Rosanna gazed briefly at the table then back to Akiha. "I think Shiki-san is entirely capable of handling himself. I've been here the whole time and he hasn't done anything indecent to any woman he has encountered in that realm. Lust after all is a sin that bears unwanted fruits and I think he knows this."

Akiha wasn't impressed. She was after all, more concerned about her relationship with Shiki, not the morality of it.

Kohaku suddenly said, "So how long has Shiki-san been there?"

Sister Rosanna replied, "A few hours. I've been trying to reach him verbally but words don't affect this world. The only way to talk to him is by cellphone or direct interaction."

Akiha liked the last part. "So that's how it is. Then let's give Nii-san our idea of direct interaction."

Kohaku suddenly said, "Kids, don't try this at home. It is never safe to play god with someone's life."

Akiha faced her maid and asked, "Who are you talking to?"

"Ah, no one Akiha-sama." Kohaku replied, returning to character. "I really hope we can bring Shiki-san out of there."

Akiha placed her hands under her chest. "Yes…I hope so too."

* * *

><p><strong>1) Ninpou, Kage Shuriken no Jutsu(Hidden Art, Shadow Shuriken Technique) – <strong>a jutsu that clones the original shuriken into several hundreds.

**2) Doton, Surudoi Hashira no Jutsu(Earth Art, Sharp Pillar Technique)** – a jutsu that creates a target underneath the person and sends a stone spike to strike upward, spearing through the person.

**3) B&E(Breaking and Entering) **– an acronym for trespassing. Usually, thieves, spies and special operations perform this.

**4) Hanakotoba(Language of the Flowers)** – the japanese equivalent to floriography.

**5) Jump **– for those who don't know, Jump is the magazine that Naruto, Bleach, One Piece and many other shonen manga are featured. It's more of a book than a magazine and even in the Japanese language it's more appropriate to call it _Hon(book) _than _Zashi(magazine) _because of its thickness.

_Author's Notes:_ I liked how this one came out. Though, I wish it wasn't so vague in my head. In any case, Shiki is way over his head with this one. I wonder what Akiha will do to him now that she sees prey…I-mean…competition. Either way, it's going to be hell…*ahem*…fun for our cast as they discover that they are not alone.


	3. Chapter 3: Blood and Sword

Foreword

2+ reviews...good enough for me! Haha. Anyway, I've finally figured out where the story is headed. I just hope the rest of the cast does.

* * *

><p>"Talking"<p>

"**Shouting, Emphasis/Technique"**

'_thinking/telepathic conversation'_

'_**Thinking with emphasis/telepathic conversation'**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>TSUKIHIME<strong>_

_**Mors Ex Machina**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3: Blood and Sword<strong>

* * *

><p>Ino couldn't believe her eyes. Standing before her in blue pants, white sneakers and shirt, and sandy brown gloves was the unmistakable teen that had helped her get home.<p>

"Y-You? What are you doing here?" she nearly exclaimed.

Shiki smiled and replied, "I guess our roles are reversed huh?"

Ino chuckled at the irony. She'd never have guessed to repay the favor or even meet the same person once more. "What happened to you?"

Shiki said with a softened tone, "An unbelievable story. That's what."

* * *

><p>Back in the basement of the church…<p>

Sister Rosanna watched the events with interest. "He seems to know her."

But she wasn't the only one there. Akiha in particular was _very_ interested with these events. "DOES HE NOW?"

"Shiki-san is such a playboy." Kohaku replied, a hint of happiness hiding the pinch of jealousy in her words.

Akiha slammed her hand on the table. "If this is the emergency you called me for then contact me earlier! Nii-san doesn't know his limits until you whip it into him."

Sister Rosanna gazed briefly at the table then back to Akiha. "I think Shiki-san is entirely capable of handling himself. I've been here the whole time and he hasn't done anything indecent to any woman he has encountered in that realm. Lust after all is a sin that bears unwanted fruits and I think he knows this."

Akiha wasn't impressed. She was after all, more concerned about her relationship with Shiki, not the morality of it.

Kohaku suddenly said, "So how long has Shiki-san been there?"

Sister Rosanna replied, "A few hours. I've been trying to reach him verbally but words don't affect this world. The only way to communicate with him is by cellphone or direct interaction."

Akiha liked the last part. "So that's how it is. Then let's give Nii-san our idea of direct interaction."

Kohaku suddenly said, "Kids, don't try this at home. It is never safe to play god with someone's life."

Akiha faced her maid and asked, "Who are you talking to?"

"Ah, no one Akiha-sama." Kohaku replied, returning to character. "I really hope we can bring Shiki-san out of there."

Akiha placed her hands under her chest. "Yes…I hope so too."

Sister Rosanna also wished she could bring back Shiki. _'If only I could read all the writings of this table then I'd be able to reverse what happened. But the only Gaelic words I know are lorg(track) and daddy's curse words.'_

The nun couldn't do much with those words. And even if she knew the language fluently, she needed to also be fluent in Old Irish and Old Norse to be able to fully use the magical table.

With no other alternative, the nun confronted Akiha with the bad news. "Tohno-san, I'm afraid this is as far as I can go. Without any knowledge of the three languages of the magical seals on this table, we can only watch Shiki and drop items for him."

Akiha replied, "Do you know anyone who does know?"

The nun grimly stated, "Yes, my father. He's Scottish. But he died during the Gulf War."

Akiha was taken aback. "I'm sorry."

"It's all right. He died like a good soldier would." The nun replied. "But right now, we should focus on getting Shiki out. I'll be making a few calls to the Burial Agency to get their help on the table."

Akiha nodded. "Okay, that's good. Is there anything I can do to help?"

The nun placed a finger to her chin in contemplation. "Well, why don't you research about the creators of the table? I still have the number of the agent who dug up the artifact. He could provide more answers to its mystery than we can."

Kohaku added, "How about we get a Gaelic to Japanese dictionary? It'll be easier to read the inscriptions with it."

The nun replied, "If only there were. The closest we have is Gaelic to English and vice versa. Can you read English Kohaku-san?"

Kohaku backed off a little and gave a weak smile. "Ahahaha…Not so well."

Akiha sighed. "Very well. I'll get the dictionary and translate it." She faced Kohaku with a concern. "Kohaku, why don't you return home? The house needs cleaning in the morning. Also, I want you to break the news to Hisui. She can't be left in the dark now that nii-san is gone."

"What about you Akiha-sama?" Kohaku asked.

Akiha placed a hand on her hip as she said, "I'll be fine. I can stay up till the morning to watch over nii-san."

Kohaku saw the determination in her mistress' eyes. There was no doubt that Akiha wasn't going to return home for the night. So the maid took a step back and politely bowed. "As you wish, Akiha-sama."

She walked past the door and up the stairs. When she was no longer in earshot, the two remaining women looked at each other and knew that they were in for a long night.

* * *

><p>The dining room Shiki sat in was small but homely. At the west side stood the TV. In the middle of the room, a square table with wooden chairs. A vase full of daffodils stood in its center. If Shiki looked to the east of the room, he could easily peer past the rectangular hole and into the kitchen where Ino was busy preparing some tea.<p>

'_She didn't have to go this far. Now I'm embarrassed.' _The teen thought.

Ino walked through the doorway and brought two cups of tea to the table. "Here you go. I'm sorry if it's not too good. I haven't made tea for any guests in a long time."

Shiki politely took the tea and said, "It's alright Yamanaka-san. I'm sure it'll be great."

"Oh. Thanks. Wait, how did you know my last name?" Ino asked.

Shiki replied, "The sign on the front of the shop said, _Yamanaka Flowers_." He then drank his tea.

Ino was about to slap herself for that. _'Duh. Of course he'd know.'_

Ino sat down on the chair opposite of Shiki. There were so many odd things about him but most importantly, was the fact that he was even here, seated in front of her. How did he get here and why was he here?

'_Could it be that he got sucked into the portal with me?' _She thought. "Hey…um—"

Shiki looked to Ino and said, "Oh, right! I haven't introduced myself. I'm Tohno, Shiki."

The blonde girl replied, "Yamanaka, Ino. I'm glad I finally know your name, Shiki."

Shiki was glad too. He had a friend in this strange world. "You know Yamanaka-san, I'm pretty much stuck here. And you're the only one I can really count on."

"I understand." Ino replied. But then her gaze changed into one of curiosity. "But how did you get here? Did the portal suck you in too?"

Shiki shook his head. "No. It's a bit more complicated." He began to second guess if telling her was the right thing to do. _'Then again, I don't know if she'll even be able to handle it. Finding out your world is a magically created environment is way too hard to swallow all at once.'_

Ino was gaining interest at this point. It wasn't everyday that you get to meet the same person in a reverse of circumstances. "Really? Like how?"

Shiki scratched his head for a moment. _'Yeah, I'd best give her a story she could understand. But if I do that it'll hurt our relationship in the long run and make things more complicated. Yeah, honesty really is THE ONLY policy.'_

Making his decision, he gave her a slightly more serious look. "Yamanaka-san, I came here after an accident occurred in my world. I found out that you were not the only one who accidentally came into my world. There was a giant frog that also entered and left so I decided to investigate the whole affair."

Ino was able to swallow this much. There were frog summons in her world so it wasn't unheard of.

Seeing the understanding look on her face, he continued. "I met a friend of mine and asked her about the incidents. She told me about a table map that she had down in the cellar of the church she lived in. We looked at it and I saw **Hi no Kuni** on the table. But the strangest thing happened. I tapped on the place on the map and suddenly it came to life. Next thing I know, I'm lying down in a forest in the middle of Hi no Kuni. I came here to Konoha because I wanted to find you."

Ino's face reddened. It was the first time that a guy seriously looked for her.

But Shiki pressed on. "I know I've said this already, but Yamanaka-san, I need you. Will you help me?"

Ino had no idea what to do. What could she do? It was all so confusing and sudden. _'Help? But how? Is this a dream? Am I just imagining this?'_

She saw the serious look that Shiki held on. There was no denying that he was desperate.

The blonde girl had a melancholic look wash over her. "Okay. I'll help, Shiki."

The blue eyed teen blinked for a while but his face brightened after. "Wow, thanks Yamanaka-san. I really didn't think you'd do it."

"It's okay. Just relax Shiki. Let me take care of it." Ino reassured. A small smile formed on her face. "Also, call me Ino."

Shiki scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Alright Ino. I guess we're even?"

"Not yet." Ino told him. "First, let's talk to someone who knows about portals into other dimensions. If we can find out where it came from—"

"Then we can find out how we can get there." Shiki finished.

Ino nodded. _'Wow. It's like he's reading my mind. I think he's psychic.'_

Shiki on the other hand thought, _'Man. Her thoughts are clear as day to me. It's almost as if we can read each other's minds.'_

"Hey, Shiki, are you psychic?" Ino asked as a curious smile formed.

"Oh, not that kind though." Shiki explained. "My psychic powers are open to another channel."

"Like what?" she asked with some excitement.

But before he could answer, a blonde man in a black trench coat over his Jounin uniform entered the room. His hair was long and disheveled but previously tied in a ponytail. In his right hand was the tie he used and his hitai-ate. In his left, were some documents that he nearly dropped upon seeing a boy in the same room as his daughter.

Ino noticed her father and turned to see him. She stood up, prompting Shiki to do the same.

"Hi dad." Ino started. "Um, this is Tohno, Shiki. He's the guy I told you about earlier. The one who helped me get home."

"Oh, I see." Inoichi said, his calm, relaxed nature remaining undisturbed. He went over and shook the boy's hand. "Thank you for saving my daughter. It means a lot to me."

"It's nothing really." Shiki answered. "Actually, I'm kind of in a bind. Now I'm stuck here and I need to get back."

* * *

><p>Akiha dropped a large stack of books on the wooden desk in the circular room. "These are all the history books I was able to dig up. There really is not much history on the table itself. But there are several mentions of it in the memoirs of the writers."<p>

Sister Rosanna Yew looked through the books Akiha mentioned. While she didn't read all of them, she did read the biographies and short introduction the writers left behind. "Alex Mcdullahan, Richard McReary, Vincent Brondr, Brian Farragher, Ferguson Errikson, and James Arnbjorg. These are all Scottish, Irish and Scandinavian names."

"Do you think they're related?" Akiha asked.

Sister Rosanna replied, "Probably. We won't know for sure until we check their family tree. But if they mentioned it in their books, then they must know about the map and its origin. Let's start by asking them ourselves."

The nun took out her cellphone and was about to start dialing until Akiha brought out a compact laptop from her bag by the corner. She opened it and placed it on the desk. After turning on the power and opening the homepage on the internet, she began typing away the names of the writers and finding each of their telephone numbers. Out of the six, only two remained alive and their numbers still in use.

"Only Brian Farragher and James Arnbjorg are still alive." Akiha intoned.

The nun dialed the phone number of Brian Farragher. She heard the ring and placed the phone to her ear. When she heard it pick up, she fired away her questions. "Hello? Mr. Farragher, I'd like to ask a few questions concerning your book."

"Sure. Anything in mind?" the author asked.

"Yes, Its about this map you mentioned. In the book, you said that '_All things mythical are facts made magical.'_ Is this a personal belief or facts made magical?"

The author paused for a moment. "Yes, it's the latter. There was a table like what I mentioned. It was created by a sect of druids known as the Corran or sickle in the Scottish language. They believed it to hold mystical power and made many sacrifices to shape the map into a small world. But this was during the time of the crusades so like many heretics, they were hunted down and executed."

"I see. So is there any chance that there were descendants of these druids, still living today?" the nun asked.

The author began to see the direction she was getting at. "Actually, yes. Me and several colleagues of mine are direct descendants of the druids. But fact is, these were stories that had been passed down from one generation to the next."

The nun however, would not be dissuaded. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I was just curious because I'm writing an article about the Inquisition and its history."

"Oh! No, it's alright! I was just stating some facts. Sorry for sounding offensive." The author beamed.

"Okay then. Is there any chance you can email me a list of you and your colleagues ancestors during the crusades?" the nun asked.

"I can do better." The author retorted. "Believe it or not, I have the list of names of the druids who were part of the sect. It's been translated into English for convenience so I can send it to you right away."

Sister Rosanna Yew gave an email address and the author sent the list to it. With that, the nun ended the call.

"Do you have what we're looking for?" Akiha asked, hoping she did.

"Sort of. I've been given the list of names of the druids responsible for the table but from what he said, he doesn't know anything about the table other than it was an old folktale passed down the family tree." The nun explained.

She then dialed again on her phone and called up James Arnbjorg. When she heard him pick up, she asked, "Hello? Is this Mr. James Arnbjorg? I'd like to talk about some history."

* * *

><p>Hinata walked through the busy Konoha streets with heavy feet. She was still sad that she lost her bag but was more ashamed that it was stolen from her. <em>'I'm supposed to be a shinobi of Konoha but I let my own belongings get stolen from me. What did I become chuunin for?'<em>

"Oi, you alright?" Kiba said as he finally caught up to her with Shino marching behind.

"Yeah." Hinata answered. "I just wish I were a stronger shinobi so that things like that don't happen again."

Kiba remembered what she told him earlier and was still in shock that she had her stuff stolen. "AH, don't worry about it! I'll definitely get it back for sure and beat the crap outta him. Right Shino?"

"I don't advocate violence." Shino said in monotone.

"Ahh, this is frustrating. Why did the Hokage call us out of all times?" Kiba complained.

"Only she knows." Shino said, with his cryptic one-liners.

They continued like this to the Hokage's office not knowing what to expect except for another mission just after they finished their last one that involved scouting the mountains for special herbs. It was D-Rank mission but one that took longer than usual as the herbs were rare and hard to find. The job was so tedious that this new mission was a breath of fresh air to them. They couldn't wait to get on it as soon as they could.

Just outside the door to the Hokage's office, they could hear her complain about how relations with Iwagakure were still neutral at best. It went on for a few more seconds before they heard the Hokage's voice die down.

Kiba knocked on the door and the Hokage answered, allowing them entry.

They entered and saw that the room not only had the Hokage and her aide, but it also had Shiki and Ino within its premises.

"Good. You're all here." The Hokage mentioned upon seeing Team 8. She put a couple of papers to the side and lays her hands on the desk. "Listen, I have another mission for you. It's a C-Rank mission. You will escort our client up to Karasu-cho(crow town) and help him search for a man named Amano, Ryoji. He's a scientist researching on something called Quantum Mechanics and portals. Anyway, the town has been known to harbor missing nins and mercenaries so stay on guard while you investigate."

"So is that it?" Kiba asked. But then he remembered that Hinata's bag was stolen. "Ah, Hokage-sama, did anyone catch the thief yet? Cause Hinata's bag was stolen this morning."

"What? Your bag was stolen?" Ino asked, with disbelief.

"Did you see who stole it?" Shiki added, hoping she didn't and that his cover was safe. _'Maybe I should give the bag back… Yeah, I'll do that when we get back.'_

Hinata shook her head. "Not even the guy nearest my bag got a good look."

Tsunade felt a migrane forming. It was bad enough Hinata's record was a step up from sunk. But to get her bag stolen was just plain carelessness. _'Hinata has always been careful of her things and the people around her. It's just bad luck that she had her bag stolen.'_

"We'll deal with the thief when we can." Tsunade finalized. "So will you take the mission?"

"This is good. I finally have a chance to prove my worth." Shino replied.

'_You already did two years ago you dumbass.'_ Kiba mentally grumbled.

"We're all in Hokage-sama." Hinata replied.

Tsunade's face brightened a bit as she relaxed her tense shoulders. "Good. Then take your things and go. Hinata, stay for awhile I need to talk to you."

The Hyuuga heiress was a bit worried by that last statement. But she stayed as the rest of her teammates plus Shiki and Ino left the building. Shizune on the other hand simply left the room and guarded the door.

With no one else around, Tsunade gave a serious but understanding gaze at the chuunin. "Hinata, what's wrong? It isn't like you to lose things."

Hinata looked down, searching for an answer. "I'm really sorry Hokage-sama. I was too focused on finding reference for a new jutsu I was learning that I lost sight of my bag."

"Was it for Naruto's sake?" Tsunade asked her. It wasn't new news that Hinata had a strong if not loving affections for the blonde teen.

"Ah…no…yes…" Hinata managed to say, despite being flustered.

"Hinata, your determination is real but it cannot be at the price of focus. Sasuke lost himself to that." Tsunade told her, reminding her of her and the Uchiha's common weakness.

The chuunin nodded knowing she was right. "But Hokage-sama, you should know I'm nothing like him. I'm no genius. I fail often. Even my record shows that."

"Oops, don't say that." Tsunade playfully warned with her finger. "The moment you think that, is the moment you'll stop moving forward."

But Hinata wasn't convinced so the Hokage decided to give her a different approach. "I remember the Yondaime used to fail many missions as genin. At one point, he wanted to give up completely."

Hinata begun to listen so the Hokage continued her story. "But one day, he cheered up and never failed a mission ever since. The sandaime asked him what happened. You know what the Yondaime told him? He said, _'__I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying.'_" Tsunade smiled at that fond memory. "Don't worry too much about your past records. They're not there to show you were you failed. They're there to show you where you can overcome."

Hinata still wasn't completely convinced. But she took the Hokage's word as a grain of salt nonetheless. In fact, the kind words reassured her and helped her relax. "Arigato Hokage-sama. Somehow, it makes me feel better."

"Then hurry up and finish your mission. You might get the chance to see Naruto soon." Tsunade urged her.

"Ye-Yes!" Hinata exclaimed. She finally had absolute proof that Naruto was in Konoha. With this, her heart burned with renewed passion and she found the will to finish this mission.

* * *

><p>Standing outside of the Konoha Gates, Team 8 stood with their backpacks ready. Ino also had her pack ready. Shiki on the other hand, only had a small black backpack that clipped together over his chest.<p>

"So which way is Karasu-cho?" Shiki asked.

"It's just passed the mountains." Kiba replied. "We follow the road and make a left at the fork. Then it's straight ahead from there."

The group of teens walked forward, in pace with Shiki. It was going to be a long mission but a mission that they could handle.

* * *

><p>They walked through the forest floor, hoping to shorten the distance they needed to travel to the mountains.<p>

As they walked, Ino couldn't help but wonder where Kiba's dog was. "Kiba, Akamaru isn't with us today?"

"Yeah. He got sick. He ate something he shouldn't have." Kiba replied.

"I guess he won't be with you for a while Kiba." Ino answered.

They traveled like this with light feelings and footsteps as they cut through the forest. Shiki still looked around in wonder of how the trees could get so big. Even their thinnest branches seemed sturdy enough that they wouldn't break if someone hung on them.

"We're almost there." Shino told them.

They looked ahead and noticed that the mountains and the setting sun were just in sight.

"Alright. Let's make camp here for the night." Ino asserted.

"Why? We can still keep going." Kiba asked in annoyance.

"Because by the time we climb over that mountain it will be dark and cold and we don't have enough food to last the night up there." Ino argued.

"I'm with Ino." Hinata added. "Our client can't make it over there the way we can. We should stay put for now."

"Alright." Kiba said, giving in. "Shino, let's go get the firewood."

Shino wordlessly followed and they went hunting for burnable material. Ino and Hinata rolled out their beds while Shiki dropped his pack and begun digging a hole with his hands.

"What are you doing?" Ino asked him.

"I'm preparing the fire pit." He answered. "I can't let you guys do all the work."

He continued digging till the earth was a fresher shade of brown. Afterwards, he began piling stones around the pit.

Hinata pulled out a small pot from her pack while Ino managed to bring out a can of rations.

"I've got some onigiri and dried deer jerky." Ino stated.

Hinata pulled out her can which contained powdered miso soup and some ready to cook, salted beef. "Mine is mostly soup. I tried packing some vegetables but they'd rot right away so I left them at home."

"Its alright." said Shiki. "I'd eat anything right now."

Soon enough, Kiba and Shino came back with the firewood. They quickly arranged the wood in the pit and started the campfire. The girls quickly created a split and placed the pot to hang from the stick overhead, allowing the flames to cook the meat stew.

While they sat down and waited for it to cook, Team 8 started darting questions at Ino and Shiki. The two did their best to explain the situation and the mission they were all involved.

"So in other words, you need the scientist to create or find a portal back to your world." Hinata stated.

Shiki nodded in consent. "Yeah. In a nutshell, I need that portal to get from here to home."

Kiba suddenly cut in. "Hey Ino, you've been there right? What's it like?"

Ino sweatdropped and said, "Very different. It's totally another world. Fast moving machines zoomed everywhere and the streets were all made of cement."

Shiki inwardly chuckled. "You must be talking about the cars. They're machines made of steel that allow you to get from one place to another really fast. Um, to give you an idea, if there was a road here, I could get from here to Konoha in less than an hour. That's if I'm running the car at 140 km/hr."

"That's almost as fast as me and Akamaru when we really get serious." Kiba replied.

"We're not shinobi though Kiba." Shiki corrected him. "Normal people in my world can't use chakra so we rely on machines and science to do all the magic for us."

"Ows? Is that right?" Kiba said in unbelief.

"Yeah. I'm just one of the few oddballs who encountered the paranormal one too many times." Shiki retorted. He then looked at the flames and noticed the embers burning slower. He tossed in a small stick and said, "I'll take the first watch."

"We'll be out of a job if you do." Shino replied. "As the client, your job is to stay safe until the mission is over. You'd be doing us a great favor if you make the least amount of trouble."

"Sorry. I forgot you guys are the bodyguards here." Shiki answered.

Ino looked at Shiki and couldn't help but sigh. _'He's so similar to Chouji yet so different. If Cho would man up a little I wouldn't have to babysit him so often. Not that I really mind. Oh, I really wish Chouji were a little more proactive like Shiki.'_

Shiki noticed the blonde girl's gaze and was a bit flustered. _'Aw man. She's looking this way. Why? I'm nothing really special.' _He then chuckled a bit as he remembered another person who tended to give him the same stare. _'Kohaku and Satsuki used to do the same thing too. Though this one isn't as bright as Kohaku, she's the same ball of sunshine that Kohaku was. Er, that's not right. Kohaku was a broken girl. This one definitely isn't.'_

"What's so funny Shiki?" Ino asked after hearing him chuckle. "Did you remember something?"

"Yeah, I did." Shiki replied, not noticing how much he was opening up to her. "I just remembered a few family members who were as fun as you are."

Ino smiled at the flattery. "Hehe. You silly boy. Are you always this nice to everyone you meet?"

Seeing they settled in, Shino stood up and said, "If you'll excuse me." He walked away and jumped onto a nearby branch, keeping watch.

Kiba begun digging the ladle into the pot and stirred the contents before pouring some of the soup onto his bowl. He took a gentle sip and realized it was well cooked. He wolfed down his serving as Hinata poured soup into the cups and handed them to Shiki and Ino.

The three of them ate the soup heartily as the night sky darkened.

By the time they had consumed their fill, Shino was resting while Kiba took watch and Hinata slept in her roll out bed. Only Shiki and Ino stayed awake.

"Ino, thank your dad for me. He was the one who suggested this trip anyway." Shiki said as he faced her.

"Don't worry about it. It's the least he could do after you saved me." Ino told him.

"Yeah. I could see it in his eyes. He's a good father. The best I've seen so far." Shiki replied, as he recalled the 'fond' memories he had of his father and the things he did during his last years of sanity.

"Are you thinking about your dad? I can see you are." Ino told him upon seeing the melancholy on his face.

"My dad wasn't as kind as yours. I barely knew him but I've somehow managed to forgive the things he did. If I was in his position, I probably would have done the same things." Shiki told her.

"I know you wouldn't Shiki." Ino replied. "I think I know you enough that you wouldn't do whatever he did. You're too soft-hearted to be that cruel. There's no way you could ever be the bad guy."

'_Oh if only you knew who stole your friend's bag.' _Shiki inwardly berated. "I guess that's a good thing I think."

Suddenly Shiki felt a vibration in his pocket. He pulled out his cellphone and was glad that he set it on vibrate instead. He opened it up and answered it. "Hello?"

"You're getting overly familiar with that girl nii-san." Answered, an irate Akiha.

'_Crap. I forgot they could see me.' _Shiki thought. But then he looked to Ino and saw the curious gaze she was giving him. Obviously, cellphones weren't common in this place. "Hold on a bit."

He gave Ino an apologetic look and said, "Sorry about this. My sister's calling me on this portable radio. I'll talk to you in a while."

She nodded and Shiki walked out of the campsite to a much farther part of the forest outskirts.

'_I'm surprised there's even signal here.'_ He noted. "Akiha, that was rude."

"Let me remind you nii-san that you do not belong in that world." Akiha warned. "If you continue on this path, you will form unnecessary bonds that will be hard to break. For your own sake, don't get too attached."

Shiki wasn't in the best moods now. "I love you Akiha, but sometimes you just push things too far." He let ice drip down his next words. "Call me if it's something more urgent like if there's a hostile force ahead or an actual way to get me out."

"As you wish nii-san." Akiha replied with a tone of sadness.

"I guess we're done here." Shiki finalized before shutting his phone and tucking it in his pocket. He looked to the sky before shutting his eyes and exhaling his frustration away. But as he leveled his head, he noticed a shadow moving on the face of the mountain path ahead.

'_What the? An enemy?'_ Shiki thought upon seeing the shade.

He quietly climbed up to the path and followed the shadow, keeping close to cover as he made his stalk.

The path ahead seemed to be a dead end but if you looked up the mountain, you'd see the dark figure climbing its cracked face.

Shiki saw the figure and was able to make out its pattern. It was a man about average height wearing black pants and boots and a loose black Gi held together by a red sash that left a loose cloth hanging from the back. The man also seemed to wear a Tibetan helmet with black cloth that hung down to his shoulder whilst keeping his face in view. But the face could not be easily seen as the man wore a black mask that covered everything except the eyes. But then Shiki noticed that the mask was painted to resemble the skull from below the eyes.

'_If it weren't for the scimitar hung on his left hip, I'd say he'd be a spy. From what country, I can only guess.'_ Shiki pondered.

The blue eyed teen wondered if he should continue following this man or return to camp and warn the others. But curiosity got the best of him and so he waited behind a rock till the shady figure was near the top of the mountain.

Shiki began to climb. He carefully felt for each crack, following the rhythm that his quarry made up the mountain. Halfway through climbing, Shiki noticed that the man was already over the cliff so he hurried till he was at the edge of the cliff. He carefully pulled himself up to look around. He ducked his head down and realized that he'd found an encampment of these men.

Swinging himself to the right, he edged his way to a more concealable position near an outcropping rock. When he reached it, he pulled himself up and hid behind it. He peered around the rock and saw that there was a force of about 50 men in this camp. Most seemed to be retiring in their teepee-like tents while others sat around the fire or stood watch.

'_Let's find out what they're up to.'_ Shiki thought as he quickly dodged to the next rock ahead of him. By chance, two guards walked towards his position. He froze, not knowing where to move to as the next cover to his left was a small bush. He calmed his nerves and crouched still as one of the guards sat on the rock, his back facing Shiki.

The other guard approached his seated comrade and asked, "So when is the attack commencing?"

"At dawn no doubt. The village will never know what hit them." the seated one replied.

"Good. I promised my uncle I'd take 100 heads by the end of the day." The standing guard replied.

"Good luck with that. I promised my sister I'd bring back fresh blood for her to work with." The seated one replied.

The standing guard put his hands to his hips and sighed. "Ever since the experiment with Hidan went well, your sister hasn't stopped making more of the Immortality Code."

"And why not? The serum works so why stop at one immortal when you can have a hundred of them!" the seated one replied.

Soon enough a third guard approaches them wearing a cape made of fur. "Hey. What are you doing lounging about? Get back to your posts before the rats sneak in on your watch. I don't want anyone warning Karasu-cho of their impending doom."

"But captain, if there are rats hiding about, wouldn't you have just told them the plan?" the seated guard retorted.

"Only if they live to tell about it." The caped captain replied. He narrowed his vision on the seated guard making the sentry in question quiver.

The captain drew his sword as his glare hardened. He raised it to the air and suddenly threw the weapon at a spy from the village hiding behind the bushes. He moaned in pain before falling dead.

"Now there are no witnesses." The captain walked to the carcass and yanked out his sword and sheathed it. He lifted the cadaver by the neck and dragged it with him to the fire pit, leaving the two guards alone.

"Oh and by the way." The captain said as he craned his head to the guards. "Take care of our little spy behind you."

Shiki's eyes widened upon hearing that. He quickly pulled out his knife and stood up, holding the seated guard hostage with knife near the throat while the left hand held the guard's chin slightly up.

The standing guard laughed and said, "Saif, you always complained of your beard getting in the way. Now he'll make sure to trim it permanently."

"You're not worried I'm gonna kill him?" Shiki said, hoping that the guard doesn't have one of the serum running through his veins.

"Jashin would be proud that his servant died honorably." The standing guard said, without a care in the world.

"Kariya, it isn't funny when you're the hostage." The seated guard replied.

"No it isn't." Kariya acknowledged. "Because then you'd have to save me before he cuts my throat."

'_I don't like these odds.'_ Shiki thought as he felt his heart beat grow. _'Okay, escape plan…kill the guard, run down the mountain, warn the others. I really shouldn't have gone up here.'_

Shiki slits the man's throat and runs to a nearby set of hills as the rest of the guards give chase.

He uses his superior speed and outmaneuvers the guards as he leaps, climbs and does several movie-like stunts throughout the chase on the set of hills. He manages to completely evade them and works his way back to the Cliffside he came from. As he ran along the dirt and stone ground, he couldn't help but remember the feel of his blade slicing that man's neck. It was the first time he had killed another human being on intention. But the worst part of it was that he didn't feel anything from it. Not joy, nor sadness. It almost felt like he just slew an animal instead of a human being.

He finds himself at the cliff and begins climbing down as fast as he could without losing his footing. Once at the bottom, he runs down the mountain path and into a secluded part of the forest near a river.

"Alright. This is far enough. Now to cover my tracks." Shiki tells himself. He then steps back into his tracks and finds a nearby branch under him. He leaps and grabs onto it. Pulling himself up, he could hear the men's footsteps close by.

He then finds another nearby branch just a few feet away. He leaps and manages to land on it. He then climbs higher just as the men follow the tracks to the river.

"Damn! We lost him." The captain of the guard exclaims. He turns to his men and stares down the guard named Kariya. "I gave you the order to take care of it."

"But sir, he held Saif hostage." Kariya said in defense. "What was I to do? Let him die?"

"If Jashin wills it then yes!" the captain yells back. "Saif was one of my best men. He may not be the sharpest sword, but I'll be damned if he wasn't the most effective. It should have been you on the blade's edge for all the ungodly things you've done that I'd rather not mention."

Kariya felt his pride sink as the captain faced his men with the same stern gaze. "I don't know who that rat was or where he is from but I will not tolerate our crusade ending because of him. Incompetence cannot be tolerated when the feast is a breath away!"

The captain's right hand blurs to the handle of his sword and in one movement, he unsheathed his sword and sliced open Kariya's neck. The wound was so deep, that the guard's head was hanging behind his back before the cadaver fell lifelessly to the floor.

"Take him back to camp and harvest the remains. .Slip-ups." The captain barked as he sheathed his blade.

The men did as they were told and left the scene with the captain trailing behind.

Once the dreadful men were out of sight, Shiki sighed in relief. He thanked God that these fanatics didn't bother to look up to see this troublesome cat.

'_If Akiha were here, she'd definitely have said I told you so.'_

He leaps back down to the ground and runs back to camp, hoping that the fanatics haven't found his friends in their search.

* * *

><p>Returning to the camp, he sees the camp untouched. The fire was dying down and the shinobi were dead asleep.<p>

'_Aw man…these guys are…okay don't judge. They have to be really good if they can sleep like this.' _Shiki thinks in their defense.

He went over to each one and wakes them up.

"Huh? What's wrong Shiki?" Ino says as she shakes her sleep away.

"I know you guys told me to stay but…anyway, there's a group of fanatics called Jashinists who are going slaughter Karasu-cho." Shiki explains.

Their eyes widened a bit more upon hearing that.

"They're still on the mountain top but they could be prepping for war as we speak." Shiki states.

Kiba couldn't believe his ears. "What?"

"Shiki, you know what we told you." Shino warned him with a colder tone than usual. He suddenly gets up and looks at his comrades. "Get your equipment ready. We'll surround their camp and take them by surprise."

"I got it." Ino said with annoyance in her voice.

"How many are in the camp?" Hinata asked.

"About 50 or so." Shiki answers. "There's a rock face they climbed just beyond the mountain path. They'll be expecting us to assault there."

"Then WE will take the less used routes." Shino answered.

Shiki felt that one darted at him. He could feel the anger in Shino's voice. And from the words he used, WE…meant the shinobi only.

Kiba and Hinata walked off to their setup point whilst Shino raised his arms up and let his bugs fly out, to discover the best way to ambush them.

Ino on the other hand had a concerned but annoyed look on her face. Just as her impression of Shiki was starting to build nicely, he went off and reassured her that he was no better than Chouji if not, worse. Where Chouji kept to himself and did as he was told, Shiki would just run off if you didn't pay attention to him.

"Shiki, stay here and guard the camp. We'll be back for you." Ino told him, her tone flat and unamused.

She ran off to her setup point leaving Shino left with the teen.

The bug user looked at the ashamed teen but decided against saying anymore. He went off to join his comrades.

The humiliation and gravity of the situation sank in as Shiki sat by the fire and placed his hand over his face. "Thanks a lot Shiki."

* * *

><p>The mountain top had many outcroppings. To the northeast was the slope that led down to Karasu-cho. To the west, the Cliffside the fanatics climbed from. Everywhere else were hard but prominent rock faces but in the center however was the flattest part of the land. The camp stood there with its men sharpening their swords, readying their round, Iron shields, and some, fixing a device that should not be available in this world.<p>

The captain of these men went over to the strange the device and said, "Is the Flamespitter ready?"

The maintenance men nodded allowing the captain to inspect the weapon. It was a one-handed gun-like device complete with trigger and iron sights. It even had an igniter just below the firing tube. However its fuel seems to be less compact as there was a tube that linked from underneath the pistol grip to the belt full of small red scrolls with the Kanji for 'oil' written on it. There was even a larger scroll that could be worn on the back to supplement longer lasting flames.

The captain put on the belt and the large scroll on his back. He held the weapon in his right hand and linked the tube to the specially made opening in the dowel rod of the scroll. With his weapon ready, he faced his men and yelled. "Gather around my reapers! I have one more thing to say before we depart."

The cultists gathered in front of their captain, listening in. The shinobi however, had moved in position by the time the captain began his speech.

On the southeast side of the mountain, Hinata was currently using her **Byakugan** to view the camp and get an exact count of the number of men.

Kiba on the other hand had just finished placing bombs all over the mouth of the Northeast slope the cultists would descend from.

Shino, on the North side, hid behind a rocky outcropping just above the leader. He had told his bugs to seep into the ground and surface as soon as Ino has taken the leader hostage.

Ino simply waited for her chance to take down the leader. All she needed to do was aim her two hands at him and her jutsu would take care of the rest. However, she couldn't get a clear shot from her concealed position beside Hinata.

'_Just a little to the right and I'll have him.'_ Ino thought as she remained focused on her objective. The captain was moving back and forth as he spoke but he always marginally missed moving to the right side.

The captain then stood rooted to his spot as he gave his last words.

'_Kuso. He's staying there.'_ Ino mentally noted with irritation. "Hinata, move a little to the right."

Hinata nodded and slinked a little to the right allowing Ino to move as well. She finally got a bead on her target. But the captain moved to the left as he waved a fist to the air.

'_Why won't he stand still?' _Ino mentally berated.

"And that is why Jashin must be moved with our slaughters!" the captain yelled. He put down his raised hand and said with finality, "At this hour, we are the angels of death. Let the world know that when we descend, so will war. We are War Incarnate! And Death is our Weapon!"

The cultists yelled at the top of their voices as they raised their swords to the sky. The captain then yelled, "**Blood and Sword!**"

They repeated after him and continued chanting, _**Blood and Sword **_over and over again.

The captain of the cultists nodded his head in affirmation as he walked to the right.

Ino saw her chance and quickly phased through the proper handseals. She then faced her hands out with her thumbs, pointer and middle fingers touching each other while her two remaining fingers remained outstretched. She kept her target in the middle of the handsign and said, "**Shintenshin no Jutsu!**"

Her soul quickly traveled to the captain while her body slumped beside Hinata. The 'captain' looked to the sky and said, "Let the Will of Fire rise up!"

Shino raised his hands up and his bugs quickly burst through the ground around the cultists and plagued them. Some of the cultists managed to break free and make a run for the slope only to see the rocks around it explode and crumble, blocking the path down. Kiba then jumped down from the outcroppings and tore through the survivors with tooth and claws.

"**Gatsuga!**" Kiba yelled before he turned into a human hurricane that drilled through any of the enemies still alive and moving.

By the time Shino's bugs had had their fill of chakra, the cultists save their leader had died. The battle was over.

* * *

><p>The captain was tied up to a nearby mast used for the teepees. Team 8 and Ino gazed at the now irate cultist.<p>

"So what should we do with him?" Hinata asked her teammates.

Ino also wondered what to do with the leader. "Let's send word to Konoha that we've captured the ring leader. ANBU will take care of him from there."

Shino nodded and Kiba though reluctant to let him live, nodded in consent. He didn't want any trouble from Ino of all people.

"BWAHAAHAHAHA!" the cultist captain yelled. "You think your men can hold me? I'll break free and be sure to pay you back a hundred fold!"

Ino put her hands to her hips and said, "Laugh it up while you can mister. Cause you'll be missing all the fun behind bars."

With that, Shino whispered Ino's orders to one of his bugs and let it fly off to Konoha. With the imminent threat taken cared off, they rushed back down the mountain to attend to their other problem.

* * *

><p>It was almost dawn when they arrived at their campsite. Shiki was busy cleaning up the fire pit and packing up his bag. He saw the shinobi approach him, having finished their skirmish.<p>

Shiki stood up and bowed to them. "I'm really sorry. I put all your lives at risk. I promise, it will never happen again."

Frankly, they were surprised by his actions.

"Ohh, what will I do with you?" Ino grumbled. She didn't want another Chouji on her hands.

Hinata chuckled lightly. "Hey, Ino…forgive him already. He understands what he did. I don't think it will happen again."

Ino sighed and said, "Alright. I'll give him another chance. But don't misunderstand. You still have a lot to make up for."

Shiki sweatdropped as his heart felt her words wound him. "Okay. I'll do my best."

Kiba wiped the sweat from his brow and picked up his bag. "Let's go. I wanna try the food in the village."

The rest of the shinobi took up their bags and the entire team travelled around the mountain and to the village. They took their time knowing that there were no immediate dangers as the most prominent threats were taken cared off. Even Shiki could relax now that it was smooth sailing from here on out.

As they passed through the edge of the forest, Shiki held his nose as a pungent odor wafted in the air. "Ugh…smells like wet dog."

Shino looked at Kiba and said, "He means you."

Kiba's eyes turned to saucers as he angrily yelled at Shiki, "I don't smell! You stink more than I do!"

Shiki replied, "At least I bathe."

"He has a point." Ino said as she puts a hand to her nose and walks slightly farther from Kiba.

"What's wrong with not bathing?" Kiba asked in annoyance.

"Ask your armpits that. Maybe they know." Shiki retorted.

Even Hinata was losing her tolerance of Kiba. The smell was too much for everyone except the teen in question.

* * *

><p>As they traveled to their destination, Shiki heard the story of what happened to the Jashinists and their leader. Needless to say, he was glad they were taken cared off. Such people were too dangerous, left alone.<p>

After a few more kilometers of walking, Shiki and the shinobi managed to reach the road leading to Karasu-cho. They knew this because they encountered a sign that said **Karasu-cho 15km**.

"We're finally here." Shiki noted as hope filled his heart.

Ino nodded in consent. Their mission was almost complete and soon enough, Shiki would be home and Ino would have fulfilled her promise to him. Yet a part of her, wished it wasn't so.

He was like Chouji, no doubt. But unlike him, there was an air of maturity she saw in him that she didn't in Chouji. To her, it was like seeing a 'what if' of Chouji had the boy grown up in a different world under different circumstances.

As the village came in view, their faces relaxed. It was almost over.

They walked on and noticed some distinct buildings in the distance. Kiba heard his stomach growl in anticipation of the meals he could eat there.

After a few more feet they could see the buildings more clearly. They were on fire.

Horror filled their faces as they saw smoke billowing from the buildings.

They broke into a run and saw more horrors. There were dead bodies. Plenty on the floor.

They ran faster and stormed into the village or what was left of it. All life was snuffed from it. People and animals alike were slaughtered with blood painting the ground and whatever walls that remained standing.

Ino and Hinata held their mouths in absolute disgust. This was the first time they had seen such a massacre.

"What the hell?" Kiba yelped. And rightly so. Everyone in the village was slain. That included women and children.

Shino despite his cold exterior, was inwardly pale at the sight. Even his bugs were rattled by the gaping hole left by whoever had preyed on these people.

But most of all, Shiki was the most disturbed. He looked around and saw nothing but death. Even as he tried to ignore the lines and dots he saw all over the place, he couldn't help but realize that this was one crumpled picture that can't be perfect again.

He walked around looking for the man Inoichi Yamanaka mentioned. He searched the village and came upon a small house. It was broken halfway through and Shiki could see the dead residents inside. He entered it and managed to identify one of the men seated on the chair of the dining room.

The man in question was wearing a lab coat and casual clothing underneath. There was a small round hole the width of a rod over his chest.

Shiki's eyes softened as he gazed on the man. "Requiescat in Pace…Amano,Ryoji."

He closed his eyes momentarily in respect for the scientist. After a few seconds, he opened them and noticed some words written in blood at the cadaver's feet. Shiki read it…

_**Blood and Sword**_

He balled his hands into a fist and struck the nearby wall. "Damn you Jashinists! What was this all for?"

His head hung low as he did his best to contain his anger.

"Shiki! Where are you Shiki?" Ino yelled as she looked around for him she then saw him in the dilapidated house and went over to meet him. But as she saw his disappointed form, she slowed down until she was close enough to see the same sight that Shiki saw.

Her heart sank upon seeing what had become of the scientist and the rest of the people in that house.

She grabbed the back of Shiki's shirt and said, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." He replied, barely holding his anger. "You'll ruin their deaths."

* * *

><p>Gathering back at the square the Shinobi and Shiki huddled, knowing their mission had failed and the price for it, the people's lives.<p>

"Kuso! We should've killed the guy back there!" Kiba yelled.

"I don't think it was him." Hinata told her friend. "The fires we saw were dead by the time we got here. Most of the burnt places had already cooled so there was no way he was able to escape and outrun us here."

"Then who else? The chant is right there in their blood!" Kiba yelled out.

Shino suddenly spoke out, "Hinata, how many were in the camp?"

The Hyuuga heiress replied, "50 men, just like Shiki said."

Shino nodded. This narrowed down his theory. "I think our culprit is another group of Jashinists who also targeted the village. They may have been deciding to eradicate the village from the very start so the sect as a whole sent an additional force to make doubly sure it would fall."

"If that's the case…" Shiki answered, "Then we're not dealing with just a cult but an entire faction with the manpower and means to exterminate an entire village of at least a thousand people."

"Actually…3000." Hinata corrected, sending chills down their spines.

Shiki lowered his head as the painful truth struck his face. _'Ethnic Cleansing. I'd never thought I'd actually come face to face with it. And worst of all, these guys don't need machines to do it.'_

"What should we do?" Ino asked them with a worried tone.

Shiki thought for a few seconds and said, "We head home and report to the Hokage. But before we do that, I want to search the target's home. They may have not burned all his research."

* * *

><p>They managed to find the laboratory the scientist worked in before his passing. It was a two story building that was about to collapse into debris and dust. But it held long enough for the team to explore.<p>

Shiki managed to make his way through the piles of rubble and the occasional corpse that stunk the place. He searched through the nearby table drawers and found nothing relevant to his mission. He looked high and low on the first floor but everything was in such a mess that finding anything would be difficult at best.

Seeing that most objects were ruined, he decided to dig deeper. He went over to a nearby lab coat wearing corpse, lying face down. "Up you go friend." He said as he turned the body over on his back. He searched the pockets first and found nothing but a credit card shaped object with a large **B1** printed on it. "A cardkey? This is bizarre. They shouldn't even have these things."

While the world he was in had technology, most of it on average was things from the middle of the late twentieth century (1970 – 1980). That meant no cellphones, laptops, or equipment that led to the digital age. And it also meant things like scanners and electronic doors were not and could not be invented unless the above mentioned prerequisites were invented first. So for him to see a keycard in this world was jarring at best.

But then he felt a strange but familiar pulse from the keycard. It rolled from his fingertips to his spine. _'I see. Magic. They may have discovered the origin of this world or at least had an awareness of it.'_

He placed the keycard in his pocket and return to searching the corpse. Shiki opened up the lab coat and searched its pockets. He pulled out a small memo from the coat and began flipping through the pages.

"Let's see…_found formula..._" Shiki began. But then he saw an unusual math equation that he once learned in science class. He remembered it well because Arihiko brought the idea up after playing a game based on the theory behind the equation (1). Shiki's eyes widened at what he found. "This is the theoretical formula for a wormhole. They really did their research."

Shiki tucked away the memo pad as well. Seeing as there wasn't anything else relevant in the corpse, he left it and decided to look upstairs along with the rest of the shinobi.

With the stairs broken, Shiki saw that the balcony had a nearby, unbroken wall to the right. He ran to it and up the wall and kicked off it and managed to grab the ledge of the balcony. He then pulled himself over it and to the one of the open doors in the second floor.

It was a large laboratory with microscopes and some medical devices. This was the infirmary.

Ino and the other shinobi were looking around this room and the medic-nin marveled at the equipment.

"Wow. What is all this stuff?" Ino asked to no one in particular.

She had never seen holographic computers with touch screen functions. Nor had she seen laser devices for use in surgery. Everything in this room was technologically advanced and too modern day for this humble shinobi.

Shiki looked around the room and noticed how medically advanced the room was. _'I'm starting to think these scientists had help from outside. The previous owner of the table must have introduced this stuff.'_

"So what are we looking for again?" Kiba asked Shiki.

"A research station for quantum physics and theoretical science." Shiki answered. "Er, that means a lot of weird equipment and whiteboards in the same room."

"So, not here then." Kiba answered.

Shiki nodded. The shinobi, much to Ino's chagrin, walked over to the next room. Nothing but a storage room for extra equipment.

So they moved over to the next one. This one was a desk room with offices, plasma screen computers and corpses strewn about in various positions of distress.

"Shino, I'd like you to look for Amano, Ryoji's desk. Find all his files and if you can, his laptop." Shiki ordered. "On second thought, forget the last part. Just find his files."

"What does this 'laptop' look like?" Shino answered, more curious than Shiki was.

"It's probably grey or black but it's rectangular and when you flip it open, you'll see a keyboard and a screen like a mini TV." Shiki told him hoping Shino actually understood what he said.

The bug boy went into the room and began his search. Shiki and the others searched the last room…the director's office.

It was locked…well, used to be. Someone kicked the door in and now it was wide open for them to see an old man slumped on his desk with his blood drying up underneath the corpse's head.

"Nothing here." Kiba told them. "You sure this is the right place?"

Shiki sighed and looked around for a moment then remembered something. "Hey Hinata, you told me on the way about your **Byakugan.**"

The girl got the message and activated her jutsu. The veins around her eyes bulged as she scanned the room with an almost x-ray vision. She managed to locate a door at the far, east end of the room. It couldn't be perceived normally as there was some sort of force surrounding it, causing her to look away.

Shiki noticed this and thought, _'Looks like she found it.' _He walked over to where she looked away from much to his peer's confusion.

"But there's nothing there Shiki." Ino stated. "You don't need to go there."

"That's exactly why I have to." He replied. "You're all being tricked." He then pulled out his knife and sliced at the lines of the magic barrier, causing the door to seemingly appear out of nowhere.

The shinobi were surprised to see it suddenly show up.

"Woah. What the hell was that?" Kiba exclaimed.

Shiki faced them and said, "It's alright. Don't be alarmed. This isn't something normal people should see."

"What do you mean by that Shiki?" Ino said as they approached the door.

Shiki took a deep breath before he said, "There are places in the world where you get a 'bad feeling' or a 'don't go there' instinct. Not because it's dangerous but because you just don't feel you should be there. These are places guarded with what we call in my world, magic."

Confusion is all he saw on their faces. But it seemed Hinata understood it. Not surprising as she was the one who peered into the barrier first hand.

"Wait, by magic, you mean like when there was that barrier that kept me from returning home?" Ino asked.

"Yeah! Just like that time." Shiki replied, completely thankful that his companions caught up quickly. "This barrier is roughly the same but with an added feature. A hypnotize spell was ingrained in it to subliminally suggest to any person in the room that the door did not exist. That's why you didn't recognize it until I undid the barrier."

They couldn't begin to imagine how someone could do something so complex. Although, Kiba managed to piece it together the best way he knows. "So it's kinda like a genjutsu that the door casts on every person. But what if I'm the caster and I want to enter the door? How will I get in?"

"That's the beauty of magic." Shiki answered. "Doesn't really work on the caster itself from what I've seen in my world."

Shiki pulled out the cardkey from his pocket and stuck it in the card slot. The little round bulb over the slot turned blue, causing the door to slide open. It opened up to a straight hallway made of steel and plaster that was painted white. Blue, neon lights glowed from the top and bottom straight bulbs on the walls. And at the end of this chasm was a large, red steel door with the words CAUTION printed in bold Yellow on the door.

The Death Seer takes a deep breath as he grips his knife more tightly upon seeing what could be a door to certain doom.

"I don't know what to expect, but here's to hoping we don't find a monster at the end of the hall." Shiki says before he bravely ventured forth with his comrades in tow.

* * *

><p><strong>1)<strong> **Portal 1 & 2 **–a game about portals and using them to navigate your way out of each puzzle room.

_Author's Notes_: Well, we have a new challenger for our resident Death Seer and more mysteries. I wasn't sure about the exact dates concerning tech stuff in tandem with the Narutoverse as the in-universe has mishmash of old and new stuff. There is gunpowder but no gun. There are medical facilities but few modern day methods and machines for it. There's a TV, radio and telephone poles, but no cellphones or PCs. Not even a CD player or Walkman. Their generators are pretty much something that should have stayed in a laboratory till safer methods could be invented. The list goes on and so does my patience so I did what I could and got an approximate date.

Actually, I can explain though why Narutoverse has no guns. Japan has what they call, the Gun and Sword Act. In a nutshell, this bill means that guns and swords are banned for civilian use with a few exceptions. This has become a cultural thing in which most Japanese people only see guns on A) TV or B) on criminals. Also, it is hard to get a gun license in Japan so very few actually own one and if they do, it's an airsoft at best. What this all means is that, our favorite author, Masashi Kishimoto and many other manga artists are highly discouraged to portray guns in their works as there is very little hands on info for the weapon and the Japanese people simply cannot relate upon seeing such a rare weapon in their country. You'd be better off drawing swords, spears and martial arts as those things are culturally closer and more widespread in the country.

Anyway, I'll be busy for a while but I will update the story as soon as I can. Hopefully, I'll be able to update this story very frequently. I'm really excited with what's going to happen next chapter.

みんな、じゃ まった.


	4. Chapter 4: Man vs Machine

Foreword

I'm really sorry for the huge delay. My life has been getting hectic and I am writing an original in tandem with the fanfics. Needless to say, I really want to get back and finish my works so that I can be done with it once and for all.

* * *

><p>"Talking"<p>

"**Shouting, Emphasis/Technique"**

'_thinking/telepathic conversation'_

'_**Thinking with emphasis/telepathic conversation'**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>TSUKIHIME<strong>_

_**Mors Ex Machina**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4: Man vs. Machine<strong>

* * *

><p>Shiki, Ino and Team 8 walked through the straight hallway towards the red door at the far end of the room. Though the hall was air conditioned, the team felt hot with tension as they walked on.<p>

Once again, Shiki felt the rolling sensation of magic. It got stronger as he walked closer to the door.

'_This is bad.' _ He thought as he clenched his teeth. _'With all the high tech stuff, there's no way that __**thing**__ on the other side is just a golem with swords.'_

He paused just a foot away from the door. Hinata noticed this and instinctively used her **Byakugan** on the door. What she saw on the other side was cause for discomfort. In the middle of the 20 by 20 km rectangular room, lay a green mechanical lion with golden claws on each paw. But it was strange. Not only was it 9 feet in length, but its paws with its four toes and a thumb could double as hands. And its tail looked prehensile only with a sharp 4 feet steel blade at the end.

"A lion?" Hinata muttered in question as she deactivated her ability.

"So it's just a lion. Piece of cake." Kiba answered.

"What if it's a summon?" Ino cut in.

"So what if it is?" Kiba answered with a confident look. "We just ambush it and knock it out."

"Um, Kiba…" Hinata uttered in a nervous fashion.

Pumping his fist the dog boy huffed out. "Yosh, Let's do this."

"We're doing nothing." Shiki and Ino yelled.

Shiki turned to Hinata and said, "Relax Hinata. What is it that you saw?"

Hinata looked down a bit, wondering how to describe such a thing. "Um, it didn't look like a regular lion. More like a puppet."

Shiki's eyes narrowed. _'A robot no doubt. Not gonna be easy to defeat either.' _He gazed back at his teammates and knew they weren't prepared to fight a rogue A.I. He shook his head and turned around.

"Hey, we're just gonna leave?" Kiba said, completely confused.

"From what I've seen so far, everything in this building is built using technology and magic from my world. Especially, that thing. We'd be torn to shreds before we even get within three feet of it." Shiki explained as he walked back to the entrance.

"How are you so sure?" Ino asked. "Have you fought this before?"

Shiki paused for a moment and turned to face them. "No, but I've seen what things like that do in my world." _'At least in manga anyway.' _His face hardened a bit as he continued. "In any case, we should head back and report in. We'll let the Hokage decide what to do with it."

Kiba scratched his head in frustration. "Fine." He huffed out his frustration and turned around to see the door, still pissed off that he couldn't fight the mechanical beast. "You got lucky." He said to the door.

Suddenly, a large four-foot steel blade pierced through the wall and punctured Kiba's abdomen. His eyes widened in shock and pain as his teammates paled upon seeing what happened.

"Kiba!" Ino yelled as she went over to pull him free.

Suddenly, Kiba's face began to pale unnaturally as his veins bulged and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Ino begun to react the same, feeling her chakra and life force sucked away.

Shiki suddenly blurred passed them and appeared beside the blade. And with his knife, swiftly sliced at the lines there, destroying it for good. The two shinobi collapsed as the draining effect wore off.

Hinata pulled Ino away from Kiba and said, "Ino are you alright?"

Ino begun to stir as the tail pulled back and a huge claw mark appeared on the door. They saw the right golden claw of the lion protruding from the new opening. It was glowing brightly and a humming sound could be heard from the appendage.

"Damn. Get back!" Shiki yelled as he focused his gaze on the claws. He could see the lines. They were erratic and non-geometrical. A sign that it was a non-living object. He put his knife in a reverse grip and plunged it into the small line of the middle finger claw, causing it to collapse in pieces. Blood flowed from the severed appendage.

"What the?" Shiki yelped out.

The paw shirked back and the lion groaned in an almost human voice. But it was so loud that Shiki and the shinobi had to cover their ears. When the groaning stopped, the door suddenly exploded wide, sending charred metal all over the place. Shiki instinctively jumped onto Hinata, the girl nearest to him, pushing her down just before the shrapnel could reach her.

As he got off and looked back, he saw smoke coming from the lion's mouth. _'Great, it breathes fire. Next thing you know it stands on its hind legs.'_

The lion stood on its hind legs looking like a slightly hunched but imposing humanoid creature.

'_Thanks a lot Shiki.'_ He mentally berated himself. He looked back to see Kiba's state and saw that the dog boy was barely conscious. "Get him out of here! I'll buy us some time."

Suddenly, the lion's mouth opened again and a bright red flame begun to emerge from it.

"Crap!" Shiki yelled, as he charged forward and leaped, managing to climb onto the lion's chest and using his free hand to push the mouth upward just in time as a bright stream of fire shot out. Shiki turned his head back one last time and yelled, "GO!"

Hinata quickly picked up Kiba and begun to run down the hallway. Ino did as well.

Seeing that they were out of range he turned back to the lion that used its left hand and peeled Shiki off its frame as it ceased its flame attack. He held the boy by the torso and squeezed, cracking several ribs and piercing his flesh with ease.

"GRAAAHHH!" Shiki yelled in pain. He quickly brought up his knife and with two hands on its grip, stabbed down on to the line at the thumb. He sawed it across, causing it to fall off as more blood flowed from the wound. Feeling the grip weaken, Shiki pulled himself off the hand and collapsed onto the floor. In agonizing pain, he crawled backwards to the entrance till he mustered enough strength to get onto his feet.

The lion didn't let up. It took a step forward and with its left leg, stepped onto Shiki, forcing him back down onto the floor, his back to it. The mechanical beast faced its golden slits for eyes onto Shiki. It begun to sniff him and out of nowhere, a low laugh emerged from it.

"You have the smell of someone who has killed vampires before. What luck. No, it is fate that we met like this." The lion growled out in a very human voice.

Shiki coughed out blood as he felt his lungs collapse from the weight of the mechanical leg on him. But his mind raced from the new revelation he's been getting. _'What is he? An Apostle? And if he is, why is he more steel than flesh?'_

Shiki managed to get a look at the right claw and see it reconstruct itself ever slowly. _'Just like Arcueid. He's reconstructing his framework. Definitely a Dead Apostle. But I haven't heard of this one on Ciel's list.'_

The lion's eye slits opened up like eyelids to reveal bright red eyes. It gazed down on Shiki with amusement. "You will never be able to kill me the way you are. You are too weak. Your uselessness will be the end of everything and everyone you ever loved." It pressed its leg harder, causing Shiki to yell once more in pain.

Four kunai with explosive tags managed to pierce the oppressive leg and explode, causing the lion to hesitate and fall back a bit, freeing Shiki from his fate.

Suddenly a black wave of bugs surrounded Shiki and carried him quickly to the entrance down the hall where Team 8 and Ino was waiting.

Ino pulled out the keycard from Shiki's pocket and inserted it into the slot, shutting the door for good.

"That won't hold." Shiki coughed out.

"Don't speak anymore or you'll open your wounds further." Ino nearly yelled as she knelt down and carried Shiki on her shoulder.

Without another word, they left the building carrying their wounded.

—•—

Just a few kilometers away from the burnt down village lay Shiki and Kiba as Ino made quick work to heal them both. She managed to remove remaining shrapnel and stabilize Kiba despite internal injuries. But if she didn't heal him quickly, she wouldn't be able to heal Shiki next.

Sweat poured down the medic-nin's forehead as the stress started to sink in. She studied the large cut that reached into Kiba's stomach. _'His stomach acid is eating away at the laceration. If I don't heal it in time, it will begin dissolving his other internal organs and cause major internal bleeding.'_ She then gazed at Shiki who simply stared into the sky despite the claw marks on his body. _'Hold on Shiki. I'll be with you soon.' _She placed her hands over the gaping wound and gently applied her chakra, healing it with a dim green glow.

"What was that thing?" Shino asked everyone.

Hinata replied, "Whatever it was, it was very powerful. Shiki was right. We wouldn't stand a chance against it."

Shino looked over at Shiki and pulled out a grey laptop from his green jacket. "I didn't find any files but I found your laptop."

Shiki nodded allowing Shino to return the laptop into his jacket. The blue-eyed boy saw the way Shino tensed slightly. He opened his mouth for a moment to speak but quickly shut it knowing that he'll just worry Ino even further for talking despite injury. He looked to the blonde girl and saw the avid concentration in her eyes. He then saw her hands and the way her chakra was slowly healing the wounds Kiba received.

'_Incredible. Not as fast as Ciel's regeneration spell but definitely as good.' _Shiki mentally noted.

Ino looked up to Shino and said, "I won't be able to make it in time like this. Where's our backup?"

He replied, "They'll be here soon. Shizune-san is with them."

Ino grit her teeth as she looked back at the wound and saw that cut to the stomach had been fully healed. She stopped momentarily to wipe the sweat from her brow and moved over to Shiki. She knelt beside him and ripped out his shirt to get a better look at his wounds. Though she saw the large scar on his chest, there were more pressing matters. The lacerations to his sides were superficial. But seeing the yellow color around the wounds was far worrisome. She carefully felt those areas as Shiki barely held in a wince from the touch.

'_His ribcage is fractured in several places. Some of them are piercing his organs.' _Ino mentally noted. _'I need medical tools and supplies to reset the ribs and heal them in place. He might not make it.'_

Shiki saw the worry in her eyes. _'I wonder how bad it is? I can definitely feel pain in my sides but it's the pain in my lungs and gut that feels the worst. He must have crushed my ribs bad enough to reach there. Oh…I see. I might not make it.' _He shook his head as he took her hands.

"No. Just stay still you idiot!" Ino told him and shoved his hands away. She began to heal the gashes in his sides first. They healed far quicker than Kiba's stomach wound making things easier for her.

"Ino…" Hinata uttered in shock seeing her determination. She then shook her head and pulled out an emergency medical kit from one of her pouches. "Ino, can I close up Kiba-kun?"

Ino looked at her and said, "Can you do it Hinata?"

The Hyuuga heiress nodded.

Ino then replied, "Alright. Then please bandage him tightly to keep pressure on the wound."

Just as Hinata pulled out the sewing kit, a group of Konoha jounins with large backpacks arrived. One of them was Shizune in her jounin outfit. "It's alright Ino. We'll take it from here."

Shizune knelt down beside Shiki and opened her bag as Ino gave her a brief idea of his wounds while the rest started tending to Kiba. In that moment, Shiki was able to get a good look at Ino's face and saw her relief.

"Thank God. You're alright." Shiki weakly uttered as his body grew cold and heavy. His eyelids begun to fall and Ino noticed it. She nearly sat on top of him as she held her hands on his cheek.

"No, please stay awake! Don't fall asleep now!" She yelled out though her words were barely heard by him.

"Hehe. Like a beautiful… Florence… Nightingale…" Shiki uttered as his eyes fell shut.

—•—

_It was cold…very cold._

_He walked through the snow and into the snowstorm as the winds sang a melody fit for a funeral. In this white death, he marched along undeterred by the weather that awaited his demise._

_Clad in a thick grey robe with his hood over his head, he marched on, following a trail no human could make. But he was not worried. His, black boots and sleek gauntlets were enough to protect him._

_As he followed the trail, he heard the howling of a wolf nearby. He turned his head to see the source and saw a large werewolf carrying a bone staff as tall as it was. On the top of the staff glowed a silver orb that was nailed to it with steel plates and iron rivets. The wolfman raised his staff as lighting crackled from it. He uttered a few Scottish Gaelic words and suddenly aimed the staff at the robed man. A pulse of plasma shot out at the robed man intending to kill him. Instead, it found the snow where the robed man was, exploding in a flash of blue as it did. The hooded man was nowhere in sight._

_The wolfman looked left and right seeing no sign of the robed man but he knew he was around. _

_Suddenly the wolfman fell to his knees, a knife embedded on the back of his nape. Holding onto it was the robed man. He yanked out the knife letting the beast fall dead. He continued on into the snow till he reached a dark cavern where a larger werewolf guarded it with a bone axe. It threw the axe at the robed man who deftly evaded it and ran towards the feral beast. Drawing his knife, the robed man ran as swift as he could. The wolfman was prepared. It swung its right hand horizontally to decapitate the robed man but the killer was quicker and ducked at the last second, embedding his knife on the feral's left foot. Seeing the beast staggered, he rose up, hitting the butt of the blade into the feral's solar plexus, causing it to keel. The robed man followed up by using his left hand and pulling the mane at the back of its head down allowing him to bury his blade down at the dot there that marked the end of his existence. The killer pulled his knife free and pushed away the wolfman to the side. He stood and walked forward into the cavern. He entered a dim, narrow route till he reached the more spacious part of the cavern. A dim glow filled the place thanks to the several torches hanging from the walls. And at the end of the cavern, was a white blade with a red handle buried on the skull of a sitting wolfman long decayed down to the bone._

_The robed man walked over to it, not letting go of his current knife. But as he neared, another wolfman dropped down from the ceiling carrying a crossbow. He aimed at the robed man and fired the bolt. The robed man quickly brought up his blade only for the bolt to smash through the brittle steel and ricochet into the man's neck._

_The man gasped as he fell to his knees and gaze upon a puddle on the floor. He held his throat momentarily then looked at his hands. Though bloody, it was the growing lines there that worried him. But as he looked up, the wolfman was already in front of him, his crossbow aimed at the man's head. With a squeeze of the trigger, the robed man felt the bolt pierce through his skull._

_Then Darkness fell._

—•—

Shiki opened his eyes to see a white ceiling. When his vision returned, he saw the lines and dots of death he was accustomed to.

'_How long have I been asleep this time?'_ he thought.

As he sat up, he looked around and saw the hospital room he was in. It was nice and spacious and to his right was the window where he could see the Hokage tower just in the distance.

'_Back in Konoha.' _He noted. Checking under his shirt, he saw no signs of his earlier wounds. His past ones, like the scar on his chest, were far more visible.

Letting go of the shirt he couldn't help but ponder what happened in that fight. Why was there a high tech research lab? And what was that thing that attacked him and his teammates? Was it truly a Dead Apostle? And if so, how did it get here and fit with everything around him?

The young killer looked over to his left. There, lying down in another bed separated by a screen, was Kiba.

'_Poor guy. He barely knew what hit him.' _Shiki thought as a sad expression filled his face. _'I don't know what's going on or how things are coming to place but something dangerous IS HAPPENING. And I better find it fast before it finds me. Those visions are starting to form a pattern. And my death, its centerpiece.'_

—•—

Sister Rossana Yew was a calm and patient woman. Her years as a woman of the cloth, the grinding stone that shaped her into the person she is today. However, even she can lose her cool once in a while and when she lost sight of Shiki and his team the moment they entered the magic guarded door, was an unnerving thing to her. It was the first time that her bird's eye view of the table map was unable to see anything that entered through that hallway. All she saw past that door was a blue screen.

A few minutes after, she saw Ino and Hinata carrying a wounded Kiba back into the entrance of the hallway, panic filling their eyes. Dread filled the nun's instead.

It was a good thing that Akiha had fallen asleep on one of the desks in the room. Had she seen her brother's bloody state, she'd move heaven and earth to get inside that table map to help him. But the nun witnessed it instead. She saw what the shinobi were doing and though she couldn't hear what they were saying, she knew that things were dire.

Since then, the green-haired nun with scars to her neck, has been looking through books on Scottish Gaelic, Old Norse and Old Irish. She devoured every page in hopes of fully understanding the language so she can open up the table map and summon Shiki back to her world.

The nun closed another book on the desk next to a growing pile of them in that circular room.

She rubbed her forehead in frustration. Nothing new about the table map was found. With Farragher's email still on the way, and very little concrete info on the table map, she had no choice but to call in the Burial Agency. She pulled out her cellphone and made the urgent call.

As her phone rang, Akiha woke up and noticed her laptop was still on. Looking at the screen, she saw one new message in her inbox.

"Hello? Can you connect me to the Burial Agency?" the nun spoke. Akiha looked at the woman and heard her say, "Yes…554326…Japan."

After a few seconds, the nun spoke once more. "Hi. It's me. I need you to open up a file for me. I need information on a sect of druids. They go by the name, 'Corran'."

Akiha listened in knowing this could be a potential break in their case.

"Above my rank?" the nun blurted out. She frowned and said, "What do you mean above my rank?"

Akiha's eyebrows rose hearing this. _'What does this mean?'_

"Hello? No, I need that info." Sister Yew said to the phone. "People are in danger…no wait…hello?"

She shut her phone and tucked it away, annoyed that she was hung up on. She turned around to see an awake Akiha who asked her, "Is there a problem?"

The nun sighed and said, "Well, they told me _never ask about the 'Corran' again because it's above your paygrade_."

"Why would they do that?" Akiha asked.

"I think it's a setup." The nun responded. "When a squad from the Burial Agency came and gave me the table map, they told me to guard it and even gave me the proper grade and resources. I still have the official papers with me as proof. It doesn't make sense that they'd void something like that all of a sudden. Especially on an artifact that they couldn't control."

"So in short…" Akiha calmly stated, "Your life is in grave danger at any moment."

The nun nodded to the grim thought. "We don't have much time if that's the case. We need to get him out of there before things get messy."

Akiha exhaled knowing how serious her situation has become. She turned to look at the map and said, "It's a good thing you called Arnbjorg-san earlier. At least we know the purpose it was built for. We better tell nii-san the news."

But then she saw where her brother was, and _who_ he was with. She scrambled to the table hoping her eyes were deceiving her. Putting her hand on the code with zoom on it, she zoomed in and saw that indeed it was her brother with someone she did not want to see him with.

—•—

Shiki gaped upon seeing who was standing there in front of the door. Clad in the same purple clothes stood Ino, her hands behind her back.

"Oh…Hi." Shiki said, making a weak wave to her.

She waved back and walked over to him, past the slumbering Kiba. She pulled up a chair beside him, sat there, and gave him the Nanaya knife. "You dropped this when that monster stepped on you."

"Thanks. I wonder what else I forgot." Shiki said, a smile on his face. Briefly, he gazed at the blade and noticed how much wear and tear there was on it. "It's a miracle that this thing's still in one shape." He rested his eyes on Ino and remembered what she did. "Thanks for saving me. I owe you again."

"It's alright. You don't owe me anything Shiki." Ino retorted.

He scratched his head and chuckled a little in embarrassment. "Thanks. And…sorry for everything. It was my fault for disobeying orders and putting me in harm's way."

Ino sighed and looked to the side as she said, "Really, Shiki. You're so reckless. It's like you want to die." She faced him with saucers for eyes and said, "I should kick your ass for making me worry so much!"

"Hehehe…" he chuckled weakly. _'Man this girl's strong willed. So this is what Kohaku would be like if she grew up in a ninja village.'_

"I'll try to keep risks minimal and not life threatening." He said to her.

"I wish I could trust you on that. But you're too untrustworthy to be left alone." Ino told him.

'_Man. I really ruined her impression of me.'_ thought, the young killer, as he felt her words stab his heart.

"But you did save our lives back there…" she trailed off. "I guess I can forgive you."

Shiki shook his head and said, "Tell you what, when I get out of the hospital, I'll take you out to dinner."

"Wha-what?" Ino said as her face turned red.

"As an apology for everything I've done so far." Shiki explained to her. "I've been nothing but cruel to you with the way I've been acting. I want you to trust me as much as I trust you. We can go wherever you want within Hi no Kuni. You name it. Ah, except places with four day advanced reservations. I doubt I can squeeze in some money for that."

Ino replied with a chuckle, "You're so romantic Shiki. But I already have someone I like."

He raised his eyebrow at that. _'Oh…Is it Shino? Naw, too creepy. Must be someone who fits her standards. He's probably tall, very smart, very handsome, loyal to the village, and downright perfect or at least looks to be…Yeah, I really doubt she has a boyfriend. Her father gave me the look that fathers give to the first guy in the house.'_

"Does he like you too?" he inquired.

Ino flinched a bit in surprise before saying, "Yeah. Totally."

Shiki's gaze softened at her words. "It's alright Ino, you don't have to lie to me. I just want one date to make things right with you. There's no one more important to me than you."

At that, Ino was caught speechless. She gazed at him with wide eyes, thinking he just said the most ridiculous thing.

'_Am I dreaming again? A guy…no, Shiki tells me I'm important to him?' _Ino thought as she gazed at him with wide eyes, hoping there was a sign he was lying. Yet somehow…her heart told her no—he cares. He truly cares.

She blushed as she looked down a little before gazing at him shyly. Her heart warmed a bit more as she said, "…Okay."

Upon seeing this side of her Shiki also blushed. _'Wow. I knew she was beautiful. But seeing her like this. I never knew she could also be so cute…'_

A knock was heard coming from the door. "Shiki, Kiba, you have visitors." Said the nurse behind it before she let in Hinata and Shino.

"Ah, Kiba-kun…you're awake." Hinata said as she noticed him.

'_What?' _both Shiki and Ino thought in unison.

Kiba relaxed as he pulled back the screen. "Yo…Ah, my head hurts."

"How long were you awake?" Ino asked as she turned to him with a nearly anxious expression.

Kiba frowned a little in confusion till he said, "Ah, just now. What? Did Shiki ask you out or something?"

Shiki sighed in relief as Ino gracefully said, "Of course not. Why would I go out with him in the first place?"

Kiba gave a coy smile and said, "Why are you so defensive? He did right?"

Ino pulled up the imaginary sleeve on her right arm and said, "Get an infection and die you jerk."

Hinata sighed and thought, _'Kiba-kun really doesn't understand the heart of a girl.'_

With all the members gathered and in good health, Shiki faced Hinata and asked, "So how long was I out and what happened while I was out? And what did the Hokage say about the mission?"

For a moment Hinata's eyes shifted to the entire group before resting upon Shiki. "You've been out for a day now. After you fell asleep, our backup carried you back to Konoha."

Shiki nodded in reply. That much was a given. However… "And the lion in his den?"

"We told them about it," Kiba started. "But they said to leave it be. They didn't want to fight it."

'_Who would?' _thought, Shiki. _'Fighting something they knew nothing of would just lead to more casualties and at worst, cause the monster roam free and give the same damage to the populace.'_

"We reported the mission to the Hokage," Ino added. "She said not to go back while we're still gathering information on the lion and the Jashinists who destroyed the village."

"I…see…" Shiki though hesitant, commented as he remembered what happened to the village because of a faction of cultists. But he wasn't the only one. The shinobi also remembered what happened to the village. Their eyes dropped down a bit at the horrible memory of the ruined village and the various corpses in it.

"So in the end, the mission failed, didn't it?" Hinata quietly piped out.

Shiki faced Shino and said, "Can you hand me the laptop?"

Shino wordlessly complies handing him the flat piece of silicon and plastic. Shiki places it on his lap and opens it up. As the computer boots, he tells them, "Well, if all of Amano's files are here, we can call it mission accomplished. And if we've hit the jackpot, we might find blueprints on that monster as well as the facility we never got to enter."

Upon hearing that, they remembered what went on there with that mechanical lion. Kiba flinched as the memory wounded more than his pride.

Shiki looked through the computer and saw that Amano's files _were_ there. He smiled and looked at everyone. "You did great guys. Mission accomplished."

All the shinobi gave him curious stares. What was it that allowed him such confidence in the first place?

Ino went over and leaned next to Shiki to see what he was looking at on the laptop. Seeing her there prompted him to scoot over to the side of the bed to allow her to sit though it didn't seem like she noticed the act. So he tapped the new space on the bed, giving her permission to sit there. As she sat down, Shiki looked through Amano, Ryoji's files and saw many blueprints on the facility they came from.

'_Looks like the guy is pretty organized. Every file is organized by category.' _Shiki said as he looks through the documents within. Looking further, his brows rose a little. _'Here it is. Quantum Physics, Inter-dimensional travel...Alchemy?'_

Opening the folder on alchemy, he finds diagrams of magical circles and runes. Most of which, he couldn't understand but nonetheless took note off. _'Mostly theories and a few implementations but everything in here is definitely magus territory. And from the looks of it, this guy knew very little of it. All the things he's written here is basic stuff for a magus. Stuff even I know of.'_

But then he opens a folder entitled **Lionization.** Inside, he sees videologs, each entitled by experiment number.

'_I'm gonna need privacy for these ones. Can't let them see too much.' _ Thinks the young killer. He didn't want to open a potentially sensitive video that could ruin the shinobi's entire mindset and beliefs. After all, they were still unaware that they were living in a bubble world.

"So what do you think Shiki? Anything in there that can help?" Ino asked.

He faced her for a moment and said, "Maybe. I've just browsed through so I can't say for sure what's helpful or not. But I do know that these scientists have been doing unusual projects and that most of them are using magic as their power tool to accomplish it."

"Magic…" Ino phrased as a certain question popped up. "So these scientists can use magic…are they from the same world as you?"

Shiki sighed and said, "Once again…maybe. I don't have a complete background on them but it isn't likely they're from my world. Most of Amano-san's documents on magic and technology are written as if he just discovered them."

"I noticed that everything in that building was new despite the state we found it in." Hinata stated.

The blue-eyed boy nodded. That was the last bit to cement the alibi of the scientists. He closed all the open applications and documents in the computer and faced his crew. "I'll hang on to this. Thanks for everything guys."

Kiba gave him a toothy grin and said, "No problem bro. You can count on us."

Shiki went back to the computer and searched through the other folders and managed to find blueprints of the area that they never fully entered. According to the blueprints, it was a 20 x 20km room designed to be used as a workshop. There were even floor sockets for movable cranes and mechanical arms. Several conveyer belts and a work station were part of the overall design.

"Dang." Shiki breathe out. "Its just a factory for their gizmos. No portal devices here."

He then jumped to the folder concerning Quantum Physics and Inter-dimensional Travel only to find incomplete theses on them.

"More bad news. The Jashinists managed to kill em' off before they could finish their research." He continued, giving the grim facts.

"But why would they attack Karasu-cho in the first place? What was their motive?" Ino asked.

"I'm guessing it's one of two things." Shiki started. He closed the laptop and crossed his arms under his chest. "First: They knew about the science experiments and destroyed all traces under the disguise of genocide."

"It would make sense." Shino added.

"Isn't it easier to just burn down their laboratory and stop the scientists?" Hinata asked.

"Normally, yes. We don't have proof it's a mass cover-up." Shiki answered. He relaxed and closed his eyes for a moment before saying, "What if it isn't?"

"What if, its really just genocide?" Ino shakily concluded.

Shiki faced her and said, "That's the second theory…. They are a cult after all."

"But that's cruel!"Ino yelled. "What kind of a god wants to end all life and bring only despair?"

"Hopefully, a false one." Shiki answered. "Cults aren't known to have real ones most of the time. But whoever is stringing them along is very deliberate and powerful. They're not someone we can take head on."

"Yeah. What he said." Kiba answered.

Shiki cleared his throat and said, "Anyway, we have no choice but to sit that one out."

The shinobi seemed restless despite his clear-cut statement. But regardless, this was one choice they had to begrudgingly accept.

Kiba put his hands behind his back and said, "Well, at least its all over."

"Yeah." Shiki replied. _'Hehe. Though he says that, I bet he'll train hard so he doesn't get stabbed like that again.'_

Hinata sighed and said, "But at least we all made it out alive."

"Definitely." Shiki answered. "I'm just glad Kiba made it. Getting stabbed by four feet of steel is no bigie."

"Kiba huffed his chest and said, "Well it did hurt, but there's no way I wouldn't survive. I'm the toughest member of team 8."

"And the luckiest." Ino added. "If you get stabbed one more time, I'm not helping."

"Ino, don't jinx it." Shiki sheepishly replied.

The door opens once more and a male and female nurse enters the room carrying a tray full of medicine and a few injections.

"Kiba, its time for your medicine and tetanus shots." Says the female nurse.

"What?" The dog-boy panics as he eyes the rather large syringe.

"I'll be headed to the bathroom." Shiki says as he shakily gets up from his bed.

The male nurse walks over to Shiki and supports him, taking him to the nearby bathroom. Kiba tries to run but is held down by Ino and the female nurse as Hinata watches helplessly, unable to fathom what to do with the comedic horror before her.

—•—

Tsunade sat alone in her office with a hefty pile of papers stacked on her desk. In her right hand, she held a sake bottle whose rim was slightly marked with lipstick from the blonde's lips, and in the center of her desk, the reports from the incidents this week.

Her stress shot up another notch as she stared at the depressing reports. Not only was the Kazekage's life in danger, but also that Akatsuki had the power to endanger him in the first place. And then there were the reports concerning Orochimaru and his cronies slinking their hands in several prisons, 'accidentally' freeing some prisoners.

'_I can understand why the Sandaime never stays too long in this place. This job is making my shoulders stiff.' _Tsunade thought as she tried to rub the stress away from her forehead.

The Hokage took another swig of the drink before setting it down next to a set of fresh papers she received earlier this morning. Her brows furrowed as she remembered the sad state that Ino and Co. were in when they handed in this report.

'_Of all days, it had to be when the Kazekage was kidnapped.' _The blonde woman thought.

She took up the papers and read them once again. _'According to the reports and the condition of the buildings and corpses, the massacre was estimated to have happened a few hours before Team 8 and Ino arrived. It's possible that it happened the same time as our shinobi were fighting …the Jashinists.'_

She sifted through the papers and read the profiles on the cultists. Needless to say, she was less than amused. _'While not possessing any special jutsus, they make up for it in manpower and tactics. But how is it that an army capable of wiping out a village of 3000 remained hidden until now? This is the first time I've heard of them and NONE of our spies have even come across a rumor of them.'_

A man in a large trenchcoat with a blue beanie enters the room. He faces her and says, "Hokage-sama, I have news about the prisoner Team 8 gave us."

"It better be good." She tells him, managing to endure seeing his scarred face.

The man remained impassive but was anxious from the way his feet subtly shifted. "We searched through his memories but found nothing other than his initiation ceremony into the cult."

Her eyes narrowed at this. "Come again?"

The scarred man sighed as he repeated once more. "The only memories we could find were from his initiation. No history, family, or recent events."

"Are you telling me he doesn't exist?" Tsunade asked him.

"Yes." The man curtly replied. "I'm having Yamanaka and his team look into the possibility of a mental countermeasure placed in his brain."

Tsunade replied, "Good work Ibiki. It's the best news I've heard all morning."

"We also took his weapon to our experts for analysis." The man coolly replied despite her earlier sarcasm.

Tsunade nodded and said, "Very well. Tell me as soon as you get some answers. We'll resume interrogation then."

The man bowed a little and walked out leaving Tsunade with more questions than answers. She looked once at the reports before tossing them onto the desk and taking one final swig of sake. She drank as much as she could to drown out her frustrations before setting down the bottle on her desk.

"Mou, I can't take it anymore!" Tsunade exclaimed as she got out off her desk. She walked out of the room, startling Shizune who waited by the door. The frustrated Hokage faced her aide and said, "Let's go Shizune. We're going to drink till the sun sets!"

"EHHH? HOKAGE-SAMA?" Shizune exclaimed, unable to fathom what just happened.

—•—

After Kiba's shots and his medicine, the other shinobi left leaving Shiki and the dog boy in the hospital for some much needed bed rest. Kiba managed to sleep soundly after his shots giving Shiki the perfect time for to peer through the laptop from the comfort of his bed.

'_Thank God they're gone. I'll finally be able to look through without revealing anything unnecessary. It'd be pretty hard to explain that this world is just a miniature one in my world.' _Thought Shiki as he looked through more folders.

He goes back to the folder entitled **Lionization **and opens it again**.** Inside, he sees the videologs and opens the first video and sees Amano Ryoji standing in front of the camera.

"I am Amano Ryoji, a scientist working with **J**ashirnm **A**pplied **S**ciences. Over the following weeks I will experiment on Fiber-301 and prove whether it is an effective transmutation serum of flesh or not." The scientist explained, his eyes cold but with conviction.

Shiki watched closely as the video on the laptop ran its course. He saw Amano Ryoji move over to the side allowing him to see a bleeding and battered person strapped to a table in what looks to be the medical center of the laboratory he searched through. Shiki looks left and right momentarily to make sure no one was spying before returning back to the laptop just in time to see Amano Ryoji with a syringe standing beside the strapped man.

"Subject is male, 21 years old, blood type B negative." The scientist casually explained. "Has recently suffered lacerations to the abdomen and left shoulder. A major artery was cut in the process and if not treated will lead to death. Both leg bones are broken and extensive surgery and bone replacement is required. He won't be walking out anytime soon."

He then injected the serum into the vein on the man's neck. "Injecting Fiber-301 into the jugular vein. It'll take 3 hours for the serum to circulate the body." The scientist pulls out the needle and faces the camera. "Once completed, the muscle groups will begin reacting with the serum and the fusion process can begin."

And with that, the video stopped. Shiki closed the folders and sat there, pondering what on earth was going on. _'At least I know that the guy was busy. However, thanks to the Jashinists, I'm back to ground zero. What am I gonna do now?'_

He sighs as he shuts down and closes the laptop. He falls back down on his bed as he works his mind and plays back everything that has transpired in the last few days. He searched through his memories looking for anything that could help. But to no avail... He was stuck and out of concrete options.

'_In the end, all I have left to go on are those visions I've been receiving.' _He mused to himself. _'Visions huh? Maybe I might find something if I look back.' _

Seeing the opportunity arise, he relaxes his tense nerves, closes his eyes and dives deep into his memories as he looks back at the vivid visions. He starts by looking through the latest one and reviewing it piece by piece. _'At least I know that the hoodie is me. Though if that's so, I'd better avoid wolves, snow and getting shot in the head and neck with an arrow.'_

Diving further, he looks back into his first vision and sees all of the events in such clear detail. His eyes opened and widened as he thinks, _'I remember now. That girl I warned was Hinata. Those were events from this world. There's going to be a war… A really big one against an army of zombie-like monsters.'_

He placed his hands behind his head and thinks, _'It doesn't seem to have a relation with the Jashinists though. But for all I know, it's their master plan. So many holes and I can't figure out which one to plug. Raghhh…this is so frustrating! Its like the first time I met Arcueid and the vampires...' _

He got up and walked to the bathroom. He then stood by the sink, opened the faucet and began washing the frustration away from his face. _'Don't panic. We didn't spend nearly a year doing nothing. I trained for cases like this and its time to put it to the test.'_

Suddenly, he hears a familiar ringing noise in the room. Shiki gets up and looks around and hears the ring again only this time, he hears it coming from the nearby closet. He opens it and sees his old clothes neatly hung. He moves his hand into one of the pants pockets and pulls out the electronic device. He places the phone to his ear and says, "Hello?"

"Nii-san, are you alright? Why are you in the hospital?" Akiha asks him with a tone of worry.

"Oh, its just a checkup." He lied. "I decided since I'll be here for a while, I might as well get one while I can."

"Oh. I see." Akiha answers, her tone with a hint of disappointment. "I have some good news for you. We've managed to find a break in this case."

"I'm listening." Shiki answers as he walks over to the window and looks at the sky as if he can see her through it.

"We've learned about what the table map is and what its for." Akiha speaks, her tone void of any previous doubts. "According to our sources, it was created by a sect of druids known as the Corran. They were using it as an experiment to create a world like ours but smaller."

"So in short…they decided to play god." Shiki answers.

"Yes. That's one answer." Akiha replies. She pauses for a moment before continuing. "We've also found some information on one of the founding druids. A man named Jashirnm Arnbjorg was one of the druids who built that world. According to our sources, his soul was trapped in that world after his execution by the church."

Shiki couldn't help but smile. "So all I have to do is find this guy and ask him for the way out? Things have gotten simpler."

"Indeed." Akiha answered. "Nii-san, he might be anywhere in that world so you have to start looking as soon as you are out of the hospital."

Shiki quipped back, "Got that right. Can you track everyplace with a strong spiritual presence? I mean you can already track me so…"

"We'll see if we can." Akiha answered. "Are you doing okay nii-san?"

"Don't worry I'm fine. I've got some good friends taking care of me." Shiki answered.

"Oh? You sound very happy with it." Akiha answered.

"Of course I am." Shiki replied. "I actually have people in this world who will help me out. I'll be fine Akiha. I'll be back before you know it."

"I hope so nii-san. Arihiko called me and asked about you. If you don't come back soon, other people are going to start worrying."Akiha told him.

'_Definitely. A week is bad enough. Can't let it get farther than that. Kohaku and Hisui are already very worried by now.' _Thought Shiki. He took a gander at the street below before saying, "Thanks Akiha. I couldn't have gone this far without you."

"Not a problem. Listen, if there's anything you need, we can drop the things for you." Akiha tells him.

Shiki replies, "How about a gun and some body armor?"

"Sure. You can scare off the wolves with it." Akiha retorts.

Shiki chuckles before replying, "On a serious note, I do need some clothes and a few more things like binoculars and military grade gloves and boots."

"Why? What are you trying to do?" Akiha asks. A pause later and her tone changes. "Nii-san…did someone hurt you?"

"Of course not." Shiki answered. "Just a safety precaution. Not to judge, but our technology is vastly superior to theirs despite their incredible skills. Plus I don't have enough money to buy an outdoor kit here."

"Oh. I see." Akiha replied in surprise. "If you really need such equipment, then I can arrange to gather everything you need."

"Why do I get the feeling this involves abusing your power?" He asks in anxiousness.

"Nii-san, it isn't wrong if my power is used for someone's good. Do not be afraid to ask for your needs. I will gladly supply them." Akiha answers.

Shiki sighs once more at the heartfelt statement his sister made. "Alright, you win. I'll mail you the list in the morning. You need to rest too. I'll see you later Akiha."

"Goodbye, nii-san." Akiha answers just as Shiki closes his phone.

Tucking it back into the pocket of his pants, he walks back to his bed and sits down, with hope filling his heart.

'_Another way out.' _Thought the teen.

He could barely keep his excitement as he sat on the bed. "Thank God, We're finally on track. I guess miracles can come true."

He lay down on his bed with a smile on his face. There was a way out and a clear direction. But then the memories of Karasu-cho haunted him. His smile faded as he thought, _'Still…I don't want to leave without knowing why I was sent here. If it's to rid the Jashinists, I'd gladly do it.'_

And he shut his eyes and laid down to rest.

—•—

Morning rose again and so did the sleepy village named Konoha. Many awoke to open up their shops, or get to their duties. This included the heiress of the Yamanaka Flower Shop. She didn't like to watch the shop as there were better things to do, but she couldn't go against her mother.

She sat by the counter, reading the latest edition of _Konoha Fashionista_. Occasionally, a customer would enter and exit the store. But for the most part, it stayed empty.

As she sat there, she couldn't help but remember what Shiki told her yesterday.

'_Asking me out all of a sudden like that. Haah…that really surprised me.'_ Thought the blonde. _'But it was the first time a boy asked me out. No one has ever done that for me or cared for me that way. What's next? He comes here asking for my hand in marriage?'_

She sighed deeply with her eyes shut, and her magazine now resting on the counter.

"Hey Ino, are you ready?" said a familiar teen voice.

Without missing a beat, Ino framed her hands to her face and said, "But it's too soon Shiki. We're still kids…"

"What are you talking about?" said the confused teen voice.

"And besides, I still have someone I like…and…" Ino continued not realizing what she was doing.

"Hey, Ino wake up. Asuma doesn't want us to be late for the training." said, the teen voice.

Ino furrowed her brows a little before opening her eyes and seeing Shikamaru. "Ah! Shi-shikamaru…Whatareyoudoinghere?" She nearly spat saying.

"Oi, oi, that's what I was going to ask." Shikamaru retorted. "Did you forget about today?"

"Today?" Ino absentmindedly said. But then she quickly remembered. "Ah, today's Asuma's trainingday."

"Good that you remembered." Shikamaru stated with a relaxed tone. "Chouji's already there so we're the only ones he's waiting for."

The two of them walked out the shop and marched all the way to the training fields just a little beyond Konoha. As they arrived, they saw in the middle of the grassy training field by the lake, their teammate Chouji and their old teacher, Asuma who carried a heavy backpack.

The pair walked on till Chouji and Asuma recognized them and began waving for them to come over.

"Konnichiwa, Asuma-sensei." Ino greeted him.

"Yo." Asuma greeted back with a smile.

"Sensei, what are you going to train us in this time?" Chouji asked. Ino and Shikamaru nodded in agreement.

Asuma looked at his young students and retained his smile as he said, "Today will be especially tough. I won't go easy on you."

The students tensed for a bit as Asuma put down his bag and unzipped it. They swallowed hard as Asuma reached his hand in the bag and pulled out…a bag of steak.

"Eh?" the three students unanimously uttered.

"Today, we're going to be eating out here." Asuma replied, his smile even brighter.

The three nearly fell apart when they heard that. "Wait a second, you brought us out here to eat BBQ? Why don't we just go to the usual place?" Ino asked.

"It's great to eat outside once in a while." Asuma reasoned.

"It's okay Ino. It's not everyday we eat with Asuma-sensei these days." Chouji added.

Ino placed her hands on her hips and sighed as the other two teens went over and helped out Asuma, prepare the BBQ. Once all preparations have been made, they gathered around the BBQ and carefully placed the strips of meat onto the hot grill.

"Actually, I have something important to tell all of you." Asuma told his students.

He took a deep breath before saying, "I'm getting married."

Smiles were seen growing on his students. Ino in particular, squealed. "Yaaahh! Asuma and Kurenai-sensei are finally getting married!"

Asuma blushed a bit and scratched the back of his head.

Shikamaru also smiled and said, "She finally reeled you in to do it."

"Hehe. You got me there." Asuma bashfully replied. He then took his chopsticks and flipped over the meat on the grill. "There's still a few weeks before the marriage but I want to invite all of you to join us."

"No need to ask sensei." Chouji assured him. "You get the first bite, sensei."

"Well said Chouji." Shikamaru added.

Asuma's eyes widened a bit then settled down as he said, "Also, there's another thing I have to tell you."

"Another?" Ino piped in.

Asuma replied, "I'm being sent to investigate the Jashinist Order. I'll be gone for a week or two so I need you three to take care of Kurenai for me."

As soon as Ino heard that, her eyes widened. _'They're finally investigating the cultists.'_ She suddenly asked, "Do you know where they are?"

Asuma replied, "No. But we're going to patrol the surrounding villages to see if they've seen any of these guys."

"Who are the Jashinists?" Shikamaru asked.

"They're a cult that wiped out a village of 3000." Ino answered.

"Woah. That's serious." Chouji piped in.

"It is." Asuma added. He faced Ino and said, "You've seen them first hand. What do they look like?"

All eyes were on Ino as she begun to describe the cultists to them. "They wear black outfits, carry curved swords and round shields and they wear a face mask that looks like a skull."

"Well, they'll be hard to miss." Shikamaru answered.

"Unless they only move at night." Chouji retorted.

Asuma picked up a sliver of cooked meat from the grill and blew on it twice. "Either way, they have a strong character. It won't take too long to find them."

Chouji followed soon and took a piece of meat for himself. Shikamaru and Ino did so as well but not as quickly as their plump friend.

Shikamaru suddenly asked Ino, "I heard about what happened with that guy and Kiba. Did they pull through?"

Ino nodded and said, "If it weren't for Shizune-san, either of them could've died. But they're staying at the hospital now so they're okay."

Chouji added, "Then who's that guy walking through the forest?"

"Huh?" Ino uttered before looking at the same direction as Chouji. She nearly dropped her food as she barely caught a glimpse of what looked to be like Shiki fading into the trees.

—•—

Shiki, still dressed in his hospital gown, walked over to the clearing with the three stumps on it and looked to the sky.

"Should be coming in anytime now." He said out loud.

Just as he did, a crate fell from the sky and landed hard on the ground, shaking loose some of the metal rivets holding it together. The blue-eyed teen walked over to the crate and pulled out some of the rivets holding one side up, causing it to fall down. Inside, he saw several military grade, metal containers.

"I did say military grade." Shiki says as he pulls out the containers out of the crate. He then moves over to the first container and opens it up. Inside, he sees a vest like no other. It was a bladeproof vest adorned with scriptures and all sorts of archaic writings. As Shiki reached in to grab it, he felt a powerful aura emanating from it. "Blessed by the church." He blurted out as he looked at it and noticed a note attached onto the collar of the vest. He read it and it said,

* * *

><p><em>This is Blade-proof armor made by the Holy Catholic Church for the Burial Agents. It is also blessed to hinder spiritual attacks. There is a full suit with it and three special items. It looks like it won't be enough though. The ninjas of that world are very fast and you need to be able to move at their speed to catch up.<em>

_Be careful Shiki. Don't get into any fights._

_-Sister Rosanna Yew_

* * *

><p>He takes out the vest and sees the rest of the suit inside the container. It composed of a black, turtle neck, zip up shirt made from Kevlar thread, a similar color and material for the cargo pants, black shoulder pads, elbow pads, greaves and gloves with military grade ceramic and steel plates in strategic places, and the same colored knee pads and shin guards with the same grade of ceramic and steel plates to protect those areas.<p>

"Damn. I'm gonna look like a Spec Ops guy with this suit on." Shiki exclaimed as he put the vest to the side.

He walks over to the second container, which was slightly smaller than the first. Opening it, he sees some neatly stored food in plastic containers, some other daily necessities, black, military boots and a gray robe with a hood.

"You've got to be kidding me." Shiki says as he stares down the gray robes and black boots. He blinks twice…it still remained. He looks at the food and sees Kohaku's signature and chibi drawing on the lid of the plastic containers.

"Damn you Kohaku. You're pushing me into the prophecy." Shiki grits out while glaring at the special articles of clothing.

He turns to the last container and opens it in hopes of finding something less unfortunate. Inside he sees an earpiece, some contact lenses, and a strange, handheld radio-like device.

He puts on the earpiece on his left ear and presses the button on it.

"Can you hear me Shiki?" Says Sister Rosanna over the earpiece.

"Loud and clear. This'll make things easier." He tells her. "By the way, what's with the contact lenses and radio?"

"They're special devices made by the church to support our agents." She answered. "The contact lenses allow you to see in infrared and sonar vision at thought. They will also not slip off while the user wants to wear it."

"That's incredible." Shiki replies. "Mental linked devices are far too advanced for even our society. The church is really something these days. Oh, what about the radio?"

"The radio is actually a field generator. It creates a skin-tight field around the person and protects against 30% of all physical and magical attacks. Also, you can explode the field outward, creating an anti-magic field for a few seconds." Sister Rosanna explained.

"Like a portable EMP generator(1). What's the estimated range of the blast and for how long?" Shiki asked.

"About 50m. You only have ten seconds till the effect wears off. Don't worry about your stuff getting fried, they're shielded when they're in the suit." She told him.

"Wow. My respect for you guys raised a notch. As well as my fear." Shiki almost shakily answered.

"Hahaha. Don't worry, I'm on your side." The nun assured him.

"I'll try the contacts first." Shiki said as he moved over to them and began putting them on.

"Wait! Those con—"

He put them on and felt them grip his eyes as magic started forcefully pouring into his eyeballs and through the veins there. He held his eyes, fell down and began writhing on the ground in pain as more magic poured into them. After two seconds the pain receded but the numbing effects remained for a bit longer.

"Shiki are you alright? Shiki?" the nun said in panic.

"Barely…" he managed to grunt out, still holding his hands over his eyes. "Let me guess, they imprinted on me to create the mental link?"

"Yes. It hurts the first time but you won't feel any pain afterwards." She told him. "I think you're good to go. Try them out now. Think about turning on the infrared."

Shiki took a deep breath as he put down his hands and lay on his back. He did as he was told and began to see in infrared. The sun was so bright white that he had to look elsewhere, like the nearby trees where the colder colors were. But he did see birds in the trees as bright white. He then thought of turning the ability off and his vision returned to normal.

"What did you see?" the nun asked.

"Warm things in bright white." He retorted. "I'll try sonar now." He then thought of seeing in sonar and immediately, his vision turned black. But then he started to see things in a sort of blue haze with objects having a form of transparency. Things that made the most sound tended to become brighter, sharper and more opaque, like the ants on the ground and the birds in the trees. He sat up and saw a rabbit hiding behind a tree, trying to dig a hole.

"I kinda like these contacts." Shiki said as he deactivated them. He stood up and said, "These new toys will keep me from turning into their prey." He looks up at the sky and says, "Sister Rosanna, I have one small favor to ask."

"Yes, what is it?" She asks in curiosity.

"Get a laser pointer." He replies.

"Why?" she asks now in confusion.

"Just in case. Get the one that actually burns things." He tells her.

"Shiki, just tell me what you need it for." She answers with a hint of annoyance.

But the blue-eyed teen shakes his head and says, "Its not for me. It's for you. There might come a time you'll have to intervene and that could be my only hope."

"Tell me already." The nun replied, completely annoyed. "What's the laser pointer for?"

He scratched his head knowing she wasn't going to like the idea. But he faced the sky once more and said, "Orbital Bombardment. I need you to use the laser pointer as a Kill Satellite."

"A what?" the nun gasped.

"Yeah, I figured you'd say that. It's a safety precaution really." Shiki sheepishly tells her.

"No Shiki. Just, no." she flatly tells him.

"Alright then." He replies. "I'll just take these back to my shack."

He packs up the metal containers and manages to glance at a piece of rope from inside the crate. He goes in and takes it and wraps the containers together with it. He carries the wrapped objects and ties it on his back and begins his steady walk back to his apartment. But as he does so, he felt a familiar presence in the air. On instinct he finds the nearest tree, climbs up the branches till he was deeply hidden by the foliage. Looking down he sees Ino enter the clearing, looking around.

'_Crud, a search party!' _Shiki mentally berates. _'Didn't think the nurses spread word that quick.'_

Ino continues on into the forest till she couldn't be seen. The blue-eyed boy watched on for a few more seconds till he felt it was safe enough to come down. But the moment he landed he felt rooted to his spot. Shiki notices that his shadow was extending unnaturally to his left. He looks there and sees Shikamaru holding the 'rat' handseal, about ten feet away.

"**Kagemane no Jutsu**, complete." Said the lazy genius.

"Bait and Lure…not bad." Said Shiki, "I guess the jigs up."

"Yep." Shikamaru curtly spoke. "So what're those crates for?"

"Protection from your types." Shiki honestly answered. "I have some martial skills but not enough to bring down a shinobi without some stealth. These will balance those odds a little bit in my favor."

"Sounds dangerous." Shikamaru answered. "Planning to go against shinobi will put your health at risk. I suggest you drop the idea quick."

"Can't do that. Not when you've seen this much. Did it scare you when you saw my friends hand over the crates?" Shiki calmly stated.

"Friends?" Shikamaru intoned.

'_So he hasn't seen anything. The sound of the crates drop, or my voice must have told them where I was.' _Thought Shiki. He smiled a little and said, "You know, the guys hiding in the forest. About five of them total. They did say they were paranoid, being Iwa-nins and all."

Immediately, Shikamaru's eyes widened. _'I was careless. I didn't account for a squad of Iwa-nins in the forest. Mendokuse. I can't warn the others while watching him.'_

Shiki began to feel the jutsu's grip loosen. He rotated his right hand so that the acorn, cradled by his fingers, was aimed at Shikamaru. He quickly glance to the right and said, "They've found us! Run!"

Shikamaru looked and saw a silhouette of what seems to be a shinobi, coming into the forest. He tensed for a moment, causing his concentration to break even further. This was it.

Shiki flicked the acorn at Shikamaru's head, causing him to break the jutsu. The blue-eyed teen darted further into the forest at breakneck speed.

"Kuso!" Shikamaru yelped as he watched Shiki get away. But he had other things to deal with. He swirled his head to see the shinobi figure get closer into the forest. He prepared his kunai and was about to throw it until he realized it was Asuma.

"Did you find him?" Asuma asked.

"Yeah." Shikamaru. "He pulled a fast one on me."

"Oh? A civilian tricked you? You're getting dull Shikamaru." Asuma told him.

"Mendokuse. Don't tell anyone about this. Especially Ino." Shikamaru answered.

"Don't worry. I don't want to anger her either." Replied, Asuma.

—•—

After having managed to evade several familiar faces and delivered his crates to his apartment, he quickly ran back and snuck into the window of his hospital room like nothing ever happened. Luckily, Kiba was getting a checkup so the room was empty. He casually lied down on his bed and pulled the sheets over his legs just in time as the nurse walked in.

"Bu-but…you were…where did you go?" She stuttered upon seeing Shiki back in bed.

"I walked over to the vending machine bought a drink, then had to go to the bathroom so I went to the one in the nearest floor." Shiki explained.

The nurse huffed as the veins on her forehead throbbed. She didn't even bother to yell, as it was too embarrassing to admit she caused a commotion in the hospital for nothing. "Be glad you're being released today. I hope you never come back." With that, she walked out, shutting the door behind her.

Shiki scratched his head and said, "Sorry about that nurse. Sometimes a man needs his alone time."

But the door opened once more, revealing Ino to be at the door. "Shiki, were you in the forest today?"

"I was here the whole time. But I am being released today." He told her.

She walked over to the side of his bed and pulled out the chair there to sit. "Thank God. I swore I was imagining things when I thought I saw you enter the forest awhile ago."

"My haircut is pretty generic." He told her.

"It's okay. The short hair suits you." She said to him. But then she noticed something on his face. "You used to wear glasses before."

"Oh…how did you know?" he asked.

She pointed at the bridge of his nose and said, "You've got nose-pad marks on your nose. How can you see now?"

He chuckled and answered, "Well, in my world, they've developed special lenses that can be worn directly on the eye to aid in sight. We call them contact lenses. I'm wearing some now actually."

"Wow. That's so cool. But how do you take them off?" she asked.

"You usually peel them off." Shiki answered.

"hmmm…" hummed the blonde girl as her mind started moving in a different direction.

"Something up?" Shiki asked.

"You know Shiki, I've been wondering, how is it you could fight off that monster back in Karasu-cho?" She asked him.

'_(sigh) can't hide that anymore.' _Thought the blue-eyed boy. "Well, I've been in a similar situation. Like I told you before, I have experience with the weirder things in my world. Part of that had to deal with monsters bigger than me. I'm no shinobi but I had to fight or learn how to before I get killed off."

"Like what kind of monsters?" She asked.

"I'd tell you if you tell me who you like." He replied.

"Are you jealous Shiki? …hehehe." She playfully answered.

"Curious and Jealous." He told her.

"Well, he was the best shinobi of our batch." She started, blushing as she did. "He was really cool and handsome and smart. But he also had a dark past. He was the last of his family after his brother turned on them and wiped out the entire clan."

Shiki's eyebrow rose a little at the seemingly familiar setting.

"Ever since then, he dedicated his life to becoming his family's avenger." She concluded.

"So, he's out there looking for his brother?" Shiki asked.

"Yes. He's going to find him and bring him back to justice." Ino said with a hint of sadness.

'_Ah…I see now. A real heartbreaker or rather a focused weapon. He's not gonna stop until he finds his brother and I'm not sure I like where it's going. It's just like SHIKI if I had wronged the family.' _Thought Shiki.

"So what's his name in case I meet him?" He asked her.

"Uchiha, Sasuke." Ino told him her eyes nearly lighting up as she said his name.

Outwardly, Shiki wasn't fazed by her expression. Inwardly though, he felt his heart tug a little. _'She fell for a jerk. Seriously…I doubt she really knows him well. It's just a crush for sure.'_

A nurse entered the room and said, "Tohno-san, your release papers are with me."

Shiki got up from his bed and said "Alright. Let me just use the bathroom to change first."

He then went over to the closet and took his clothes to the bathroom. As soon as he shut the door, the nurse chuckled lightly at Ino before saying, "He's not too bad, Yamanaka-san. Nice catch."

"Mou, we're not a couple. He's a troublemaker and always puts himself at risk." She corrected the nurse.

"Oh, but you're always are first to the scene when he's involved. I thought for sure you two were a couple." The nurse stated, a little confused.

"No, its just that I worry he's going to do something crazy and hurt himself over it." Ino replied.

"Is that so? You're quite the dedicated nurse. Tsunade-sama would be proud." The nurse answered.

Shiki emerged from the bathroom fully dressed in his white shirt and blue pants combo and went over and signed the papers. With that, the nurse left to send the papers for discharge.

"I guess I'll see you later Ino." Shiki told her.

"Wait, you haven't told me yet." She said, stopping him momentarily.

"Right, nearly forgot." he said before he took a deep breath. "The monsters I fought, were vampires."

"What are those?" Ino asked, confusion written over her face.

Shiki shook his head and said, "I'm glad you don't know them. They feed on people and drink their blood to prevent their own deaths. But the worst part is that as soon as you're bitten, there's a good chance you'll become a mindless drone with the same hunger. And if you bite someone else, a cycle is created and the disease spreads."

She was speechless from what she heard. But was it in awe or confusion?

"Sorry, I guess it was a little too much to understand." He said, not sure if she understood anything he said.

She shook her head and said, "No, I totally understand. You're a very skilled fighter."

"Oh…" Shiki replied, a little bashful. He blushed and looked down a bit as he said, "I…uh…I…thanks, I guess. No one's ever complimented me on that."

Ino smiled, having been able to repay his compliments at least once.

Suddenly a pebble flew and struck the window, but was unable to fully penetrate. Instead, it sat there like a bullet caught in bulletproof glass.

Ino and Shiki leaped back to the hospital door after hearing the crash. He stood in front of Ino and said, "Behind the walls, now!"

"Who did this?" she asked him.

He ran past the door, dragging Ino by the hand with him. They both leaned on the wall as the nurses stared at their antics.

Shiki peeked a little to see who their adversary was only to see a monkey by the window.

"Really? A monkey?" he asked to no one in particular.

Ino peeked as well and said, "What's a monkey doing here?" she approached the ape and put her hands on her hips. "Where did it come from?"

Shiki walked to Ino's side and said, "A runaway I guess. No other reason unless he was summoned."

"True." She said as the monkey quickly scurried away. "Well someone has to report this. Um if it's okay, we'll talk later Shiki. I have to find our problem child and bring him home."

"Man you are one dedicated nurse." Shiki told her with a smile. "No wonder everyone admires you."

"Does that include you?" she asked almost playfully.

But before he could answer he heard a very angry, but low voice echo in his earpiece. "Nii-san…why are still talking to her? Haven't I warned you already about the consequences of getting too close?"

Suddenly Shiki put two and two together and got the dreadful picture straight. He relaxed himself just enough to say to Ino, "I'll answer that in time. For now, I gotta go too. I'm really sorry, but my apartment still needs cleaning to do. I have been out for nearly a week."

"Okay Shiki." She said with a smile. "Later then."

Shiki casually but quickly strided out of the hospital and sat on a nearby bench. When no one was in sight, he decided to confront Akiha. "You know, your throwing arm is getting better. A little bit more power and you'd cleanly _**kill**_ my friend."

"It was a slip of the wrist. I intended to hit the monkey climbing up your window." Akiha jested almost menacingly.

"Akiha, I know you're worried…" Shiki returned.

"But Shiki-san…you have a bad habit with women." A familiar but lighthearted voice spoke instead.

"Kohaku? Is Hisui also there?" said the surprised teen.

"Hisui-chan is busy cleaning the house. It's just me." She answered. "Shiki-san, I think I know why you keep talking to her."

Shiki barely but definitely heard a low gasp coming from Akiha. Nevertheless, Kohaku continued. "Shiki-san, you really like blondes."

Shiki heard the dead silence from the other line. _'Uh…well, kinda. She does have Arcueid's hair but I doubt that's it. In reality, she's a blonde you…less tragic of course.'_

"Nii-san…" Akiha suddenly interrupted. "Do you really like foreign girls?"

"Akiha, I'm just nice to everyone. It doesn't mean I like her." Shiki assured her.

"I'm disappointed in you Shiki-san." Kohaku interjected. "Treating a woman's heart like that is horrible."

"Would you prefer I ask her out and take her to my shack after?" Shiki sarcastically asked.

"Better that than indifference." Kohaku retorted. "Just be honest Shiki-san. She'll like it more."

"She will?" Shiki said hoping it was true.

"hehehe…yes. She'd love you for it." Kohaku replied, her sly tone nearly betraying her voice.

"Thanks Kohaku. I'll try it and see what happens." Shiki told her. "Anyway, I have some things to deal with first. I'll talk to you later." He pressed the button on the earpiece and ended the call.

But while he went on his way to finish the chores of his apartment, back in the basement of the church, Akiha, Kohaku and Sister Rosanna huddled in a circle, dealing with another but very serious matter.

"Nii-san has fallen for her." Akiha said in an almost sad tone.

"Don't worry Akiha-sama, she's a good girl who'll take care of him." Kohaku answered.

"If worse comes to worse, she'll be there for him Akiha." Sister Rosanna added.

"It's not _that_ I'm worried about." Akiha claimed. "Eventually, he'll have to leave that place and return home. If he still has feelings for her then, it'll be harder for him to end the relationship just like the first time."

Kohaku's smile nearly slipped hearing that. While she did not personally know Arcueid, she heard enough details from Shiki about what happened on that fateful night in the school. "Akiha-sama, what if it doesn't happen that way?"

"It will. He still thinks of home." Akiha answered while she crossed her arms under her chest.

"He still loves you Akiha. That's why he still answers." Sister Rosanna said to her and took a step closer. "I think you should let him decide if he wants to leave. He's a grown boy. I want you to treat him like one."

Akiha sighed, unable to defeat the nun's logic, shrugged her shoulders and frowned before saying, "Do what you want."

The nun smiled at Akiha and said, "Let's go get our hair dyed. I've always wanted to change my hair color."

"It's fine I still have to deal with the Tohno family accounts." She answered.

"It doesn't take long. Just an hour." The nun persuaded.

"It's really fine. I don't need to go." The Tohno head replied.

"Akiha-sama, we should get going soon. You'll be late for the meeting." warned Kohaku.

Akiha faced the nun and said, "Inform me if there are any changes in his situation."

The nun nodded as Akiha and Kohaku climbed up the stairs and left the church. With the two other girls gone, the nun looked at the table map with an anxious look in her eyes. While Shiki was safe for now, she was still bothered by the fact that the agency had cut her off.

'_There's no telling what could happen now. If the agency wanted to, they could be at our doors right now. So what's holding them back?'_ she pondered.

She shut them and placed her hands together and prayed, "O, Heavenly Father, guide our sheep to safety. Let none of our enemies come before it's too late. And please, keep Shiki and his friends away from imminent danger. The lions are near Lord. Very near."

* * *

><p><strong>1) EMP – <strong>Electromagnetic Pulse. A blast of energy that disrupts and disables electronic devices. Not harmful to living things but can be hazardous to those near electronic devices.

_Author's Notes – _This was the most difficult piece I've ever written. I'm serious. I haven't written anything in a long time so getting back to typing was hard. I guess in the end, writing is a muscle, the less you practice it, the more difficult it becomes to try it again.

I was worried at first with the flow as it seemed to die out in some parts but eventually, I was able to rewrite it into something better.

I'm pretty happy about the character's interactions, most especially Ino and Shiki's.


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